HOTD Cowardice, hate and emptiness
by Yamucha-san
Summary: Sequal to: - Courage, love and blood.- Team Takashi sets out to survive in this barren world, and decide on leaving behind their past. Tension rises high amongst the members of the group, and it's only a matter of time before something goes amiss. Will Takashi be able to keep taking responsibility? Rated M for violence, gore, obscure language and mature content. Please review.
1. Introduction Where were the dead?

_Dear ladies and gentlemen. This story is a sequel to – Courage, love and blood.- It's highly advised to read that story before this one. Though they most likely can be read as separate adventure, there will be a lot of clarification. _

_Right… sequel was asked. Sequel is given! I am not quite sure yet about a few things, but that won't be that important for the first few chapters. I have holidays at the moment, so I can write as much as I see fit. So that'll either be a lot, or barely anything._

_UHm…. Anything else I really have to tell you all? Oh. Yeah of course! I'll even put this as the first sentence. ( Read the first sentence again.) _

_More? Oh yes! Now I remember:_

_I do not own highschool of the dead, all rights belong to its original author and animators. I do own all newly added characters. ( Which aren't there… at the moment. )_

_( Know that this chapter is almost entirely devoted to creating a setting and a start. Very little happens.) _

_**Chapter 1: Where were the dead?**_

"The dead are coming back to life, attacking the living.

Getting bitten by them means becoming one of them.

Their numbers were increasing rapidly.

And thus, the beginning of the end of the world had begun.

In order to survive in this devastated world, we ran we ran and kept on running.

We fought, we ran, we fought over and over again.

While trying to escape, we kept on fighting. You could say a lot happened along the way.

I tried to get used to this life, but found myself being sucked deeper into hopelessness.

The only bulb of light I have left are my friends.

And amongst all of them, there's one special soul.

Whatever will happen…

We will keep running, and above all, we will keep fighting.

My name is Kumoro Takashi. And this is our trial.

It's been a while since we've left the mall behind us. That place… that horrible place has been bad for all of us. For some it was even worse than for others. It has left scars on all of our bodies both physically, and mentally.

Sometimes it is hard to think about the fact that we're in this for good, that we'll all most likely perish and turn, that we'll all start to hate. And can we prevent this?

…

I don't know. I really don't. All I know is that I have managed to confront the demons of my past, and walk forwards to either create new ones… or to create angels.

We left our safe haven behind us once again, as we prepare to find our … remaining parents. I'm sure that if we stick together… that we'll manage to pull off a life in this ended world."

"Hurry up already! Just a few minutes before the sun will be at its highest!" The all too familiar girl with the pink hair yelled through the house. She had her stuffed backpack on her back and it appeared to be filled to the brink with useful trinkets. "Sweet lord… their laziness might get us all killed right away."

Just as she had finished talking to herself she heard stumbling coming from the room, followed by some groaning. The door to the corridor opened and two fully equipped persons joined her. One was their crack shot, and the other the small… well… what was she actually in the group? The tender running girl? The pink haired child? The innocent member of the group? Whatever she would be in the future, for now she was just called Alice.

Both she and Hirano Kohta carried rucksacks, his' being larger obviously.

They were closely followed by the drowsy nurse, whom had the luck of only having to carry a small pack with medical supplies. Well… not really medical supplies. But simple plasters and aspirins etcetera.

"Great… only two more are needed. We all changed last night… what's taking them so long?" Saya kept on complaining, not even knowing whether her two missing friends were up- or downstairs.

"Takashi said he was having trouble with packing our ammunition… at least, the little bit we have left." The chubby boy answered whilst staring out of the blurred windows of the front door.

"We already did that last night? Does he even know what we are going to do… that damned idiot…" She started to tap her fingers against the brick wall due to her nerves, and when she heard more noises of walking people coming from upstairs she panted out of relieve.

As the slender red-head came strolling down the stairs everyone was quite shocked, and delighted, by the fact that she had a broad smile on her face. Her backpack was stuffed as well, but it was more juvenile and small compared to the other rucksacks. She had her pistol in her newly found belt and a sharpened stick, which could function as a spear, in her other hand. And just like all the other girls she had a skirt, for that attire would allow her to move without restrictions. Besides… of course… the somewhat revealing situations at times. Ah well… there was barely anyone left to see her panties… It wasn't anything to laugh about really… but for the time being she gave herself a soft chuckle. Her white cotton blouse fit perfectly on her nigh perfect body and if they hadn't known better, they'd say she was date ready.

"Rei… How comes you are this happy?" Saya asked with an annoyed undertone.

"Reasons! Haha. No but really… I don't know. Just happy today I guess." The girl replied whilst making sure that nobody saw her twitching eyes.

But before any more questions could be asked Takashi came stumbling through the already opened door. He wore some black jeans, white sneakers and once again a red singlet. Of course, his black Colbert finished the attire. Probably this was just his favorite and most trusted way to dress.. maybe it was him being nostalgic. Or… maybe it was just mere coincidence. He tightened the shotgun to his , equally full, backpack and was trying hard to get the straps right, only to softly gulp as he heard Saya's grumbling voice.

"Took your time all right!` A soft drip of sweat flew down her cheeks as she immediately began to walk towards the door.

"Yeah well…" He gave Rei a quick gaze and obviously a flood wave of regret filled his bellows, it most likely was a good thing that just at that point somebody knocked on the door. Through the windows he could make up a slender and gracious feminine form. His legs wanted him to move to open the door right away, but Saya was faster. The pink haired girl gestured that it was safe and she opened the door. There she stood all right…

The girl that calmly stood in the entrance was one of the main causes for Takashi´s inner struggle at the moment. But he sure as hell was happy to see her. In fact, there probably wasn´t a person he´d rather see than her. Well… besides his parents maybe. None of them really got the chance to greet her for she started to talk first.

`Neither of the neighbors have anything of use… I got my hands on some food, a steel baseball bat and lighters…` She showed a small blue bag with, what appeared to be, canned food. The rest of the items she simply held between her waist and arm. The girl herself had her infamous katana belted to her tiny black skirt. Her trademark stockings and boots were there as well. Instead of the regular sailor uniform she wore a tight black body sweater with a baggy white shirt over it. The shirt was way too large, almost make the skirt redundant, yet it stood her well. A more than stereotypical skull and crossbones mark covered the front of the shirt. Yet even in these baggy clothes… her form was perfectly visible.

They had all agreed that the girl wouldn´t have to carry a major backpack, for she was their best chance to survive at this point. If they would run out of bullets… they´d be screwed. Even with bullets… shooting was dangerous. That was the reason they had all armed themselves with some sort of melee weapons as well.

But… obviously. Having a bat, crowbar or stick is quite demoralizing when you realize that you had had guns a few days back. However… fate had a sick sense of humor.

`Well then… it´s 1 o´ clock. We should go. Everybody remembers the plan?" Takashi asked whilst walking forwards and out of the door. He made sure to keep his voice as soft as possible, just to avoid any possible confrontations. As he made his way forward he gave little Alice a pat on the head before he turned around and smiled.

"Let's find my house… retrieve our gear and be out of here. There's nothing left…" He walked past the indigo haired girl with a penetrating stare, and she obviously responded by looking the other way.

Yeah… after their little let go a night back they had actually barely spoken anything sensible. Only gibberish and sentences that were totally out of character.

The entire group nodded and spat different things. yet it all came down to one small sentence:

"Let's get this over with."

They all moved out of house, looked behind them, walked forwards, looked in front of them and carried on.

The streets were empty… Here in particular nothing all too terrifying seemed to have occurred. Just a few cars… some bins that had been bumped over… but nothing special. And that was just the thing which disturbed their minds the most. The nothingness of it all. They could barely talk or they'd risk their lives. They could only walk in a straight path… And would have to do so for about an hour before they would reach the street which they had traversed before. Well… Takashi and Saeko had. Yet back then they simply didn't have the time, nor the brain to think about the fact that Takashi's house was a mere few meters removed from Rei's own house. Takashi had actually sincerely apologized to his friends for being so stupid, but they had luckily remembered what he had not. That they had made it clear that the child of that lost parents would not enter his old house. Just out of safety measures.

They turned left after about ten minutes of walking and began seeing the destruction and carnage again. Some vague blood stains of where people had –died- and stood up again. But also corpses. Either refugees whom had been shot by panicking officers, raiders or whatever else roamed the streets of Tokonosu city nowadays.

Takashi, Saya and Rei took the lead as they knew these streets better than the rest. Kohta and Saeko had rear guard whilst Shizuka and Alice stuck rather close with the latter two.

It was cold… really cold actually. The sun was shining fervently but a chilling wind crawled through the fabric of their clothing and found its way through their nervous system. To make it worse, they had entered some sort of edge city, thus the sky touching scrapers blocked out the little bit of sun they had left.

And even after thirty minutes of walking on a steady pace they hadn't encountered more than two of them.

"Saeko-san…?" The glassed boy suddenly whispered. He though he'd get an annoyed stare, but was pleased to see the girl fainting a smile to listen to what he had to say.

"Do… do you think that…" He was playing with his fingers and glared at the ground as he was obviously looking for words. That could only mean it was either about Saya or something quite gruesome. Sadly… this time it was the worst of the two.

"Do you think that they'll be alive?" He managed to stutter out. The girl beside him simply continued to stare down at him.

"Takashi-kun's parents?" She asked abruptly.

"Y-… yes. But also everyone at the mall? How many will have survived?" He spoke whilst swallowing loudly.

"One question at a time… For they are both horrible to give an answer to." Saeko whispered back. The girl barely opened her faintly pink lips whilst she began to answer his rather pointless questions. "No… I don't think his parents are alive. At least, they won't be at his home." She spoke barely hearable whilst intentionally lowering her and thus also Kohta's pace a bit. She saw perfectly well that he was legitimately shocked by her answer.

"The only reason we have survived until now is because we are like a single entity. Not many people have the joy of having such an courageous entourage as we do." She spoke with quite a proud tone for a bit… yet then her voice became more clouded again. "Even those madmen me and Takashi encountered whilst searching for Miyamoto's parents…"

"What about them?"

"They survive because they work as a family. Even whilst they wouldn't even give our deaths a second thought… they are still a family within their circle." She stared at the boy next to her and chuckled falsely. "Hirano Kohta… as long as we are around each other we'll grow old. No matter what happens… we need to strengthen our bonds." She gave a quick gaze at the white sneakers that led the group before staring at Kohta again.

The guy seemed a bit dazzled, yet also comfortable with her answer. He buckled up his backpack and the two of them caught up with their old pace again. They'd be fully concentrating again, but one last thought slipped through the blade wielder's brain.

"_There are more people however… who wouldn't give death a second thought." _She closed her eyes and softly bit her lips before inhaling again. That would be a thought for another time. Not right now… right now she had to be fully aware of her surroundings, lest she brought them all in danger by missing something.

They walked on for another few minutes before they stood in front of an enormous building. The brand was quite unacknowledged, but for a company to be able to afford such an outpost… it had to be rich. The seven of them took shelter under the balcony hanging over the entrance, and instead of walking towards their destination in one go, they decided it'd be best to make some back up plans, or simply relax for a minute or two.

"So… how many minutes left Takashi?" Saya finally asked whilst she sipped from her water bottle.

"… You should know that?" He replied with a yawn.

"I know… But what I mean, how many minutes left for this break? We were going to reach it in one go."

"I know… But it's just so gruesome out here… I was getting used to our safe house and now… Just give us a few minute."

Not a single one of them had any complaints in the end really. It was scary… it always had been so, but now it was different. In the mall they had rest… but it didn't feel as a home. But now that they had left that cozy safe house behind them they suddenly realized that the world outside was still just as gruesome, if not worse. Probably it was worse… more and more people either turned or were killed every single day, every single hour, even every single minute. And up until now it didn't seem as if –they- would starve out, nor did any help seem to be under way. Once they had reached Takashi's house in safety, they would discuss their next step. If they would be chased, they'd –simply- carry on towards the back entrance of the mall and retrieve their lost gear.

And they prayed… Oh lord they prayed, that the majority of everything that had occurred in that forsaken place, would be gone. Either dead, or simply away. They didn't care.

Some reddish leaves were blown towards them as the sudden gust came racing through the streets. It was autumn… And really… could this whole –end of the world thing- have happened at a more crappy season? They were slowly strolling towards winter and if the temperatures was really low… so would their chances of survival be.

Alice and their little pet dog, the latter whom was fortunately being very silent today, were staring at one of them, whom was simply bumping into an old glass door without any signs of intelligence. Were they really that stupid if they didn't have a target? And where was the majority of them? Were they… led, somehow?

"Takashi?" Saya and Rei began. "Will we be moving though the alleyways or over the main streets?" They both asked, albeit in a slightly different way.

"Hmmm?" He rubbed some dirt from his face before sighing out loud and thinking of an answer. What would be the best choice? The alleyways, were it was probably more safe as it was, but they would have absolutely no escape if something went amiss. Or the main street, were they could maneuver freely yet were also bound to run into more of them.

It really was quite stressful for him to be making such rash, and important decisions. Worst of all was that everyone was staring at him. Everyone except the dog and the little girl that was.

"Look… I truly appreciate your trust in me… but I don't think this is a decision I am to make on my own? What do you think?" He whispered just loud enough for them to hear him.

The entire group looked a little confused, for nobody truly knew the correct answer. As they were thinking, they could constantly hear soft screams in the background. Some louder than others. And even though the sun was illuminating everything perfectly well, the atmosphere was way too tense. It stunk… it stunk badly. Rotting corpses, gasoline, wreckages. They all stunk.

Not even mentioning the smell of them… Were they rotting corpses? No… whatever they were, they weren't corpses. Nor were they really rotting. Nevertheless… something had changed in the last few days. They began to leave behind a smell… a scent. Was that –natural-? Normal? Whatever it was… it was demoralizing as hell, for now even the fresh air outside was ruined.

There was a moment of silence, before somebody suggested to walk via the streets. They knew they could fend off a few of them without too much difficulty, and to take a safer route with a small chance of imminent death? No… no they would not do that. And because of that it wasn't long before they found themselves walking over the streets again. They'd have about thirty minutes to go before they'd reach the neighborhood they were looking for.

The white stripes on the road were actually their only distraction at this point. They shared a few soft, and useless whispers but it never got their minds of the current task. They were still pretty much walking in the same formation, yet now it was obviously Takashi whom was leading the group. Every step the young leader took gave him both a spark of hope as well as sadness. Of course… his parents wouldn't be at his home, he wasn't hoping for that either. He was hoping for some hints… some clues as to where they had gone. It didn't really matter what, as long as it was something. Takashi knew all too well that he wasn't going to be entering his own house. It was the rule they had made for themselves… He didn't question his friends, not at all. Yet would they be able to find the clues his father or mother would have left him? Only he, and maybe Rei and Saya, knew how his old' folks would handle. He wondered though… if by some string of good luck his parents would still be there, what would they say?

Would they hug him? Kiss him? That sort of stuff would have normally annoyed him, he was after all a teenager whom was quite the scumbag. Yet now he wished for nothing more.

Or would they be mad at him? Mad for not coming to them immediately? Mad for bringing along all these people even?

And… this last thought wasn't that important, and it only bothered him for two minutes or so, yet it still bothered him. … Would they still think he was dating Rei? He hadn't had the chance to say them it was over. Not even when everything was fine and dandy had he summoned up the courage to tell them that it was over. Why? His parents were nice people and they would surely try and help him. Yet he didn't want to… didn't want to… what didn't he want to? He was just afraid of saying so. And now that he had found another girl… and quite a different one as well… in fact, the two were almost complete opposites, would they simply accept that? After all… they were extremely well befriended with the Miyamoto family.

Whatever they'd think though… they would first have to be at home for Takashi to find out actually.

Out of the sudden he felt a hand shaking him awake, and as he looked behind him, he saw that it was Saeko's hand. She and Kohta had basically bumped into him as the rest had moved on and were gathering at the entry way to his street.

He really did feel some butterflies whilst he saw her face he thought, but instead of speaking the girl simply nodded and gestured at him to walk towards the rest. She, like the rest, really didn't like being out here. Yet even with all their fear and anger… there was one thing that haunted all of their minds.

… where were the dead?

_That was it for the first chapter. I might not even call this a chapter. Just an intro! This had nothing. No romance, no violence and barely an adventure. Yet I actually like it haha. Though it is kinda monotone, I still like it. ,_

_I don't expect this to draw much attention though… Hmmm, that is actually a fu… wowowom almost cursed there. That is actually a stupid thing to do of me. But this is what I wanted to write so I did it. Sorry new people! It'll get better in chapter 2 and further, Yamucha-san promises. As for the people whom have already read the first tale. _

_Thanks for all your support regarding the questions I asked. I got quite a lot of people whom were thinking along with me and it was great to see how supportive this cozy little HotD family is getting? Haha, nevermind that last part. UHm…_

_Yeah so, expect romance and violence in the next chapter._

_Volume 2 will be about mental wars. It will play with relationships quite a bit. I don't mean love relationships though. That's a special part all together. I mean mental relationships. Friends, family, trust etc…_

_As for now, I'll be uploading this and going to bed. GOtta work tomorrow morning._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Yamucha-san._

_(PS: I've got some yoghurt with strawberry's whilst I'm checking this for grammar.) _


	2. You're not dead!

_Sorry sorry sorry. My pc crashed and with that I lost all my files. That also includes this chapter. And… as you can hopefully understand, that was quite the morale killer. I'm happy I managed to write it the way I did. But if this chapter disappoints, know that it is so because the majority was just a rip off of what I had first._

_Next chapter! This one will be… half useless, and the other half finally sets the foundation for the sequel. I think! I hope haha, I don't have a clue yet as to what I will write. ,_

_If you want to have something to read whilst doing nothing. You might want to check out Pandatrueno86's channel. I read it and I liked it. _

_I do not own highschool of the dead, all rights belong to its original author and animators. I do own all characters which are newly added._

_**Chapter 2: **_

"Check the basement as well!"

"Yes yes…"

"The attic goes on longer than you think, be sure to look behind the concrete wall."

"We get it!"

"And…"

"Takashi! Jees… just stay here already." Saya remarked, very much annoyed by his sudden change of attitude. They had arrived at his house, and as planned, Takashi would wait outside with Shizuka, Rei and Alice. That left the three remaining members to examine their leaders' house.

Whilst they were inside the other four members of the group would, obviously, serve as sentries. It took them a while to figure out an entrance, but after about ten minutes of mind staggering thinking they came up with the idea of simply entering via the backdoor.

Climbing over the fence which lead to their garden wasn't that much of a problem for the trio, and when they finally stood in the garden their quest had basically ended. The glass doors were widely open whilst the curtains were being blown out by this chilly autumn wind.

"… Right, let's go in." Saya spoke and was closely followed by the two others. Before entering the house Saeko moved forwards the lead this search and rescue mission. Saya took the middle and held her crowbar above her head to strike at whatever would await behind those curtains. Kohta took the burden of being rear guard, and had for the time being swapped guns with Rei, thus he was holding on to the pistol which would give him way more liberty in moving.

The steps towards the house only seemed to remove them further from it, and when they finally did reach it they actually felt themselves getting a little clamp. With a quick movement from her gloved hand Saeko moved aside the cotton colored curtains and revealed the living room. It was… like most houses, left behind in a more than tidy manner. The only thing that immediately caught their attention was the smell of gas in the air.

"Do you two smell that as well?" Kohta asked. Both of the girls nodded whilst scanning the room. Unlike Rei's house where the light had been banned. This room was illuminated very well and seeing everything was no problem at all. But it was because of that, that any hopes of actually finding Takeshi and Suki were barely present. Their minds felt like simply racing towards the front door and get out of this place… it gave them the creeps. Most likely all houses of their relatives would do so from hereby on.

"Right… let's get this over with. I'll check upstairs. Kohta, you do the basement, and Saya checks the attic." The katana wielder spoke on a firm tone. Resulting into an equally firm nod from her companions. They split their ways and found that their quest was going easy. Normally that would have been a good thing, except that this time it meant that there was nobody here.

Saeko checked every room which was upstairs. She even went as far as poking the plafond with her blade sheet to check for some sort of safe room. Yet… without success, for all she got was a face full of dust when the thin carpet isolation material came crashing down on the slender girl. Fortunately, she was able to cough it away and finally confirmed that the first floor was without life.

As Kohta separated from Saeko to check the attic he was greeted by darkness. However, as his eyes adjusted he noticed the lamella shutting the nearby window. Whilst he was opening he figured he heard something tumble, but just as the light revealed the room the sound was gone. For a minute he was scared… then he was enthusiastic. But when it appeared to be nothing but an overgrown mouse… he sighed in both relieve and disappointment. The attic was empty… and so was this house most likely.

Saya's legs shivered slightly as she walked down the stairs that lead to the basement. The rinkling cooking pots and pans weren't really helping her inner struggles. Fortunately for her, the room at the end was small and confined. If it wasn't for her little knowledge about this part of the house she'd have skipped thing confined room. She whispered something, but got only more darkness and dust in return. She as well, sighed in relieve whilst turning her back on the room and marching up. Nobody was here…

**-outside- **

"Don't worry Takashi… I'm sure your parents will be there, and if not? Then I'm sure that they'll be okay." Were the words spoken by the nurse as she tried to comfort her leader. It was weird though, that even though she was quite a lot older than the boy, she still followed him. Ah well… for the time being it felt like the right thing to do.

"Yeah… thanks." The boy exhaled whilst leaning his back against the wall. He heard the shutters in the attic being opened, and he also seemed to hear something falling. But there were no screams so it must have been all right.

However, it wasn't on the inside of the house that weird things started to happen.

Rei had placed herself on an emptied bin whilst supporting her head with her cold hands. If she didn't know better she'd say it was winter. "Horrible… just horrible." She muttered whilst softly rubbing her hands against each other to create some warmth. Her gun almost fell to the ground when she wrapped her arms around her waist just under her bosom. She curled her lips and stared down the road. It was bright… very bright.

" –sigh- I just want to live again…" The girl felt her eyes getting slightly damp as she began to think about her past with Takashi. Yet she moved on and started to think about Hisashi. He was dead… killed by Takashi. They were best friends… at least they were until she and the blonde boy started seeing each other, and eventually even date each other.

Just when the red head was about shed a tear a scream from the distance woke her from her enigmatic slumber. In the blink of an eye her eyes had pinpointed the source… but there was nothing to see. At least… so it seemed… were her damp eyes blurring her vision, or did she really see a black shade moving from one side of the road to another. She rubbed the salty liquid from her eyes and stared again. Nothing…

"What was that?" She asked herself. She jumped from the bin and readied her gun. She clipped the safety of and simply kept staring at the far away distance. Nothing… nothing but a few vague gunshots and screams appearing to come from the same side. "Poor souls…" And before she could doubt her vision even more Rei felt a little hand grabbing her hand.

"Eeekkk!" She young lass squirmed as she felt the cold hand coming onto her from nothing.

"Rei… are you okay?" the smallest of the group suddenly asked.

"Uh… yeah. Yeah I'm okay."

"Did you hear that as well?"

And just when those words had left her soft lips they heard it again. This time it was louder… and closer. Was it one of them? No… it couldn't be. They only groaned and moaned and had never yelled before. One time has to be the first? No… no this was different. This was horrifying.

"Is it human?" Rei spoke more to herself than the others, but nevertheless Alice replied with a shake.

"Rei… let's get inside?" She suddenly whispered.

"N-no… or maybe…"

Suddenly a noise,

A grab,

A smile and a nod.

Rei almost screamed when she felt Takashi's hand on her shoulder. Blushingly she turned around to see what he had to say. She would be annoyed by seeing him weren't it for the fact that she desperately wanted her mind off that shade. "Wh- what is it?"

"Nothing in particular." He replied rather blunt. "Just figured I'd keep you two company.

"Me too!" The blonde suddenly spoke a little louder than necessary, fervently jumping and shaking her… female parts.

"D'erm… Shizuka-sensei, please keep it down a little." Takashi stuttered whilst acting like he was staring at the air and not at the ample jiggling parts.

"Nyoh?" The blond suddenly stopped. But not because of Takashi's comment, but because of what she saw. "What's that?"

"Hmm?" The three younger members all looked to where Shizuka was pointing, and all had the same reaction and fear.

"Wh… what is that?"

**-inside- **

"All's clear…" Kohta fluted out when he finally joined Saya and Saeko downstairs. They all stood around the kitchen table, still scanning the room for any possible notes. Sadly… it was to no avail. Or was it?

It was when they made their way towards the front door and had prepared themselves to speak to Takashi that the unthinkable happened. In their haste, they had indeed checked every inch of the house. Every inch of the attic, the basement and the second floor that was. When they walked past the closet guarding the entrance to the corridor a couple of eyes followed them, ready to stake the trio as its pray.

"I'll do the speaking…" Saeko confirmed, figuring that he would believe her more than he would do the others.

"Right… thanks." Kohta spoke with truth in his voice. He really didn't want to be the one telling a guy that his parents weren't there, nor were there signs, thus it was likely that he would never see them again.

Saya herself didn't speak. She was focused on her hand. A small stream of blood ran down from her fingertips to her wrists. "Bah… stupid splinters." It was her way of acting tough… she had been really looking forwards to seeing Takeshi and Suki again. They had always been nice to her… in fact, all of the Kumoro's had been nice. She chuckled softly whilst thinking about that survival trip with the Kumoro family. She and Rei had been invited along with some other friends wand whilst…

"HANDS UP!"

Within a second the doors of the ever so peaceful white closet flew open, and out of it came a frail woman. She was frail yes… but the pistol in her hand was a whole lot less so. "I SAID HANDS UP!" The woman was shaking all over but her pistol was aimed straight ahead at Kohta, whom was obviously being seen as the biggest treat, having a gun and all.

The three younglings felt a cold sting through their spines. How in the hell could they have been this stupid? Kohta, at first trying to shoot realized that it would be fruitless thus he raised his hands. Followed by Saya, whom had out of shock already thrown the crowbar away. It was Saeko's pride which was hurt the most, and thus her hands refused to go up. Instead her hand simply rest on the word's hilt whilst the other one was placed on her hip. She held a straight back and simply stared at the frantic woman.

It became clear soon enough whom it was that was holding the gun.

"Suki-san?" Saya exclaimed. "It's me! Saya. Takashi's friend?"

"DON'T MENTION MY SON!" The woman suddenly screamed, shaking the gun and itching not pulling the trigger immediately. Didn't she remember the girl? There weren't that much girls with pink hair running around were there?

"He's outside, waiting for you!" The genius girl replied, almost yelling back at the woman. It wasn't as if one could think properly whilst having a weapon pointed at your face.

"Tsk… …. Taka…Takashi-kun… Is he really?"

All of the sudden seemed to be lowering slightly, but just a bit.

**-Outside-**

"What is that… thing?" Takashi groaned at as he blocked the sun with his eyes. He could swear he saw a figure in the horizon, on top of the hill at the far end of his street. Did it come for them? Or was it simply standing there?

"Tsk… this stupid scope doesn't even zoom…" Rei muttered to herself whilst trying to aim down her sight.

They were all distracted when they heard screams coming from inside the house. "Shit, what was that?' Takashi spoke in panic as his face turned to see through the window.

"What going on in there?' Rei asked him to confirm if something was wrong. She didn't have to wait for an answer, as Takashi was already storming off. But just when he did so he heard the nurse, speaking with her ever so uninterested voice, the last sane words of the day.

"UHm… everyone. I think it's coming for us… and fast!"

Before any of them could really react to the onset of problems shit had already gotten real. Takashi had made his way to the window and gazed through it. Obviously, he saw his mother standing there with a gun pointed at his friends. He wanted to scream, but his voice was outdone by Rei's rifle. As soon as he heard the gunpowder igniting he turned his head and body alike. It was as if the events inside were gone for a minute or so.

"Shoot it! Shoot it! SHOOT IT!" The blonde nurse and the little girl were yelling as hard as they could out of the sudden.

"I'm trying! LET ME FOCUS!"

-shot three hit the pavement.-

-Shot four hit the pavement once more.-

-Shot five hit the running thing straight in its chest, but as we have learned by now, that doesn't work.-

Shot six? There was no time for that. Within the blink of an eye that thing was merely twenty meters removed from them, and its speed caused Rei's will to break. She stood up and staggered backwards through the front gate. Making sure that Shizuka and Alice were in as well she closed it firmly. It wouldn't stop it… There was no way it would stop it. They needed help…

"Rei what the fuck? What the actual FUCK?" Takashi yelled angrily, very much so even. He wanted to get in and see his mother more than anything. But survival came first. He now ran towards the little gate and the three shocked girls. He hadn't placed his down or he already heard another gunshot, this time however it came from inside.

**-Inside-**

"Miss Kumoro-san. Please lower your gun! We're not here to hurt you, we're here to help you." Saya tried to calm the woman down, and it really seemed she was coming through to her. But just when she was making some actual progress, they heard gunshots coming from outside.

"What's going on out there?' Saya exhaled in quick succession before completely forgetting that there was a pistol being aimed at them. She ran off towards the window and was greeted with Takashi's back whilst the guy was obviously yelling something at the poor redhead.

Saya wanted to open her lips, but found her entire shiver as a sharp pain drilled her arm, followed by the loud and all too familiar sound of a coppery bullet being released from its casing.

Her vision got blurry for a second, yet her brain immediately scanned het vital functions and as soon as it hadn't detected any serious tissue damage it reacted. It flew to the ground, taking cover behind the nearby couch whilst squeezing her arm hard, in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding.

"SAYA!" Kohta yelled, he wanted to raise his pistol to simply deal with that stain on his eyes, however to both his luck and disappointment he was greeted by two white eyes. Suki had dropped the pistol, opened her mouth and was whisper some last words before finally dropping to the ground completely. Towering above her stood Saeko, whom had, in a lighting fast movement unsheathed her blade and planted the hilt of her blade against Suki's neck without remorse. Whether it cracked or not was to be seen after the current problems had been dealt with.

"Iaijutstu… Hmpf." Were the only words the inidigo head softly mumbled before completely ignoring the woman whom now lay crippled on the floor.

"Kohta-kun, check on Saya and make sure she's okay. I'll check the outside." Saeko spoke with a firm and commanding undertone.

"Right, Saeko-san…. Thanks." The boy spoke before rushing off towards his crush and kneeled beside her and bombarding the girl with the same question over and over and over. "Are you okay? Are you okay Saya?"

"Y-yeah… it's just a scrape!" She spoke whilst trying to ignore the sharp sting in her left bicep. The bullet had pierced the muscle completely, and even though it wasn't fatal, it was painful and could prove disastrous in the world they lived in nowadays.

"Who are you trying to fool,…. Tsss, let me see it. Shizuka will be here within the minute!"

"Kohta please! Jees… I hurts yes. But I can still walk." In a rush of anger she pushed the boy away from her side and stood up. Standing on trembling legs she as well, started to make her way outside, and whatever was there with them.

**-outside-**

"Jesus Christ… was is that?" the four younglings shouted out as a somewhat human figure came crashing against the small garden gate. Takashi was already going for his charge until he heard Rei fire another shot from her rifle. Followed by another… another and another. She was pale… white even. Her eyes had lost color out of fear… that… thing, almost killed her didn't it? How could it be so freaking fast? They had closed the iron gate and were shocked to see that that… monstrosity, or whatever it was, was jumping straight up against the gate. It moaned, groaned, yelled spit and… talked? Yeah, it seemed to mumble some unbearable words.

And now that they, for a few seconds, could clearly see it, the group quickly saw what migyht just be the most shocking part. It was human. Its skin had some tone left and its eyes had color. But everything else had changed, it's speed, strength, stamina and endurance. It was all similar to them. Some blood sipped out of its mouth and the big gaping hole in its stomach had long since lost the capability to bleed. After panicking for a bit it were both Takashi and Rei whom were going to do something about it.

"For the love of…. Kill it already!" Rei yelled before going for her spear. She was sure that she had hit its head, which she hadn't, so the girl figured that shooting would be ever so useless. Her leader understood what she was thinking, and instead of grabbing his trumpcard, he as well went for his melee weapon. Holding his trademark baseball bat in his right hand felt strangely comfortable.

"Right… Let's do this." He spoke as he nodded at Rei.

At a point like this their quarrels were of course completely forgotten, for survival came first. Without a moment's thought the duo rushed towards the gate. Rei throbbed her piercing weapon forwards towards its head in the hopes of drilling through its skull, whilst Takashi simply swung his bashing bat towards the hands with which the creature was trying to pull itself over the gate. Takashi hit its hand, crushing the bones inside of it with success.

However, the biggest shock came when it turned it head to its right shoulder within the blink of an eye, dodging Rei's thrust. And before she could even retract her weapon it had already grabbed it firmly between his teeth. It pulled Rei towards him and she was just lucky enough to think about letting go of the weapon. She stumbled back and fell on her hindquarters whilst staring in awe as the thing bit through the wood with seemingly no effort at all.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Get back Rei!" Takashi yelled as he went for the shotgun stringed to his backpack. In one movement he aimed, pulled of the safety and prepared to shoot. For a mere moment he doubted… he knew that this would attract more of them .But then again, shots had already been fired so they were coming anyways.

"Let's see you chew on this!" He pulled the trigger and felt the recoil pushing against his left shoulder as the hailstorm of fragmentized bullets began flying towards the creature. The excitement of the shot was only outdone by the sound of splashing flesh and bones being crushed. Its frontal face had literally been torn off along with much of its rib case. And, as you might have guessed, that even did this agile mutation in. The blood flew through the air and before the corpse hit the ground Takashi found himself sprayed under the thick red liquid. Staggering back a bit he immediately rubbed the blood from his eyes.

He wasn't sure why, but he was panting quite loudly. Adrenaline was speeding though his veins and muscles as he tried to control his shaking leg. He simply kept staring at the bleeding pulp up until the voices of his comrades released his shackles.

"G-good shot… that's wasn't normal was it?" Rei asked as she joined him by his side.

"None of this is normal …" He whispered whilst still trying to regain his breath. "None of this is fucking normal." He repeated. "None of it…"

It was at this point that he heard the others coming out. As he looked behind him he was greeted with a small wave of joy when he saw indigo hair. However, as soon as that small fragmented joy had reached him it had made place for a wave of drama as well. The three of them came out alone… his parents weren't there? Not long after he saw Saya whom had her arm wrapped around Kohta as her sight was getting blurry. He needn't worry about that right now as he saw Shizuka running of towards the girl immediately.

The worst part however was yet to come. Takashi walked towards his girlfriend, … girlfriend? Even he found it a weird thought still, and was followed by Rei and Alice.

"Saeko-san… any sign of…? " He hesitated to ask, and when he saw her face looking the other way for just a moment he was already preparing himself for the worst.

"She's inside… And alive." The enigmatic girl spoke in a rather cold fashion. Of course she didn't want him to find out that it was her whom had knocked his mother unconscious. Yet then again… whom else could it have been?

"Really? That's great is it? Come… we'd better go inside and leave via the back door before… before… what's wrong?"

"Takashi-kun… " She took one step backwards so that she opened the way through the entrance. "I'm afraid your mother has lost it." Saeko spoke rather bluntly afterwards. And of course, such a comment didn't feel right with Takashi, but for the moment he didn't care. He knew she didn't mean any wrong with it anyways, that was just the way she was. However, he did care about his mother.

"Mom?" He rushed off through the door, but not before giving the pale girl in front of him a soft pat on her head, leaving her quite dazzled and with even more regret.

"Don't worry Saeko-san." Kohta spoke as soon as he saw the bravest woman he knew being afraid. "It had to be done, me and Saya know that."

He got nothing in return but a soft smile. Rei had already followed Takashi inside, for she was quite curious to see the good woman again. It was obvious that this would be a trigger for even more friction amongst their ranks. Nevertheless she was about to make her way inside as well, that was, until she heard Takashi yelling. Not exactly sure why, she found herself having Goosebumps at the voice.

And this might just be the first time in her life, that instead of pursuing her will, she turned around and made her way towards Saya instead. Not that that was a bad thing to do… it just wasn't the thing she wanted at the moment. They all knew that if anyone wouldn't act as if she were in a lot of pain it would be Saya.

"Her willpower will help her through…" She giggled softly before standing next to Kohta and Alice.

**-Inside-**

"Mom? Mom MOM MOM?" He yelled whilst shaking the unconscious woman on the ground. He didn't get an immediate respond, besides Rei of course. Whom was just as shocked when she saw the woman she had been able to call a friend laying on the floor like that. "Suki-san?" She shrieked before faling on her knees and covering her mouth with her hands.

She wouldn't have begun crying, weren't it for the fact that the memories of her dad came racing through her brain. If Takashi lost his parents as well she'd be in double the pain. For it wasn't unknown that Rei had been like a second child to her ex's parents.

It was because of this, that the happiness was double as big for both of them when the woman suddenly shivered and opened one eye. It was also now that she and her lost son saw each other again.

Neither of them said anything, they just stared in awe and joy. Even if that feeling would just be temporarily, it was good enough for now.

"Mom?" He spoke as a little boy whilst feeling his eyes getting damp and red.

The woman, whom was fully conscious again raised her arm up softly caressed her son's face. "Takashi… my son… my little Takashi? It's really you?" The two younglings could clearly hear the difficulty with which she spoke these words. For a mother to find her son? The son she though had been either dead or lost forever? There probably were happier things in life, but for the son and his mother there wasn't. Even if this entire disaster would stop, it still wouldn't give them as much of a feeling of satisfaction as it did right now.

More words weren't spoken, more words weren't needed. They simply hugged, cried and gritted their teeth.

"Takashi… you're not dead?"

_Right, that was it. _ _There isn't much to say is there? Takashi's mother won't be a main character. However, she will play an important role in the next few chapters. I'm sorry, but I see no other way. Next up will be discovering their objectives, and settling some scores I think._

_Thanks for your patience! Next one will be up within a week. I promise it on everything I'm worth!_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Yamucha-san._


	3. Out of hopelessness, drop dead

_Okay. Not within a week. But still rather fast._

_Next chapter it is!_

_I do not own Highschool of the Dead. All rights belong to its original author and animators. I do own any characters that a newly added to the story._

**Act 3:**

"For the love of… keep running already!" Takashi yelled as he swung the bat at its head and cracked its skull without all too much effort. It was an easy kill, and quite insignificant as well, for there were hundreds more of them coming. Strolling out of houses, alleys, pubs and a few even came from cars.

Immediately he raised his bat again in a vain attempt to stop the unrelenting hordes of former fathers, mothers and children.

The Young boy was desperately trying to establish some sort of safe zone in the middle of the streets, and you could say that he was doing quite the job.

"Rei! Saeko! Take the front!" He yelled as hard as he could. It's not as if they couldn't hear each other, there actually was very little sound coming from the battle. Of course, the non stop moaning and groaning of them, and the battle cries of the eight survivors as well. Yet that was it. No guns were being fired, this turned out to be nothing more than a melee brawl.

Obviously, the two girls listened. Both eager to survive, both eager to win and both eager to prove themselves to Takashi. Though both of them did it for a different reason. One was in it for the kill, the other for her life. One loved it, one hated it. Yet at a point like this, does it really matter what you are fighting for? THey needed to create a proper opening and run. Get away from them as fast as possible.

Takashi was leading from the center whilst their two most formidable fighters lead the way and left behind a trail of corpses worthy of a certain –respect-. Rei had taken the liberty of wielding Saya's crowbar, for her own make-shift spear had been crushed before. It wasn't her weapon of choice, let alone her style, but nevertheless she fought on without being bitten.

Closely after Takashi was the rest of the group. Kohta guarded the rear with his usual passion yet something was hurting him. Without the use of his gun he felt, yet again, so useless...

Shizuka, together with Takashi's mother Suki were taking turns in protecting the two pink haired girls. One being too young to fight, and the other being injured. None of them were very good fighters, but with a little bit of teamwork they pulled of quite defence.

"So many... So many..." Takashi panted out whilst he was looking around. One might think he'd get used to this? He actually felt that he WAS getting the hang of this life. But at the mere thought of the thing they had encountered before his mind went haywire. Killing them was... bluntly put, rather easy when done properly. Yet that thing had shown strength, speed and agility FAR above that of both them and a human. It talked, yet didn't appear to be intelligent. Whatever it was was something they were going to think about later. For the moment they were merely focussed on bloodletting.

"Where to go?!" He looked around hastily and was quick enough to notice a street which looked rather empty. It would lead them away from the mall yet that was something which was of no importance at the moment.

"There!" He raised his blunt and damp weapon up again and swung it once more. The neck of the thing snapped thus, obviously, it went on. It's weight flew towards Takashi whom was caught off guard by the strength they held back. Saya was most likely right when she said that all humans were capable of this, yet only with great strain on one's muscles. And since they knew no pain, that barrier was gone as well.

He staggered back and was barely fast enough to place his hand on its front face. Without thinking he started bashing its skull in with the backside of his bat yet without liberty to build up speed, crushing a skull is quite the task.

"Everyone! Go to that street! Change of plans, survival comes first!" He was successful in getting everyone's attention and without a moment of doubt they battered group of eight humans and one dog made its way to the dark and let down alleyway.

It was obvious that Saeko was there before the rest, and she had taken the liberty to literally slaughter anything that was coming from, out, or towards the alleyway. The stragglers that remained in between the group and herself were easily avoided or dealt with. She was waiting for them, and regaining her breath. Yes, even the fighting monster called Busujima Saeko had her stamina limits. She rubbed some sweat, dust and blood from her face before inhaling deeply in order to get a hold of herself. Was there any exhaustion which was better than the exhaustion caused by unlimited killing?

The thrill of the kill... the thrill of the hunt.

"Keep going! Kohta, you and I have the rear!" The young man yelled out above all of the violence.

"Right!" He got in return.

The two boys saw everyone running past them. Everyone... but one person. Suki stopped right in front of her little boy before giving him a strict stare.

"You stay with Rei. I'll help this kid here." She was awfully tough and stable for someone whom had lost her mind barely an hour back. She giggled softly before going for Takashi's hand and grabbing the bat out of his hand.

"No, mom. Go! Stay with Saeko, she's out biggest chance right now!" He tried to talk –sense- into her but found himself being grabbed by his shoulder by Shizuka.

Suki was actually more than happy to see the other mature member of the group understanding her way of doing things. And... Who the hell was this Saeko she was supposed to follow? As her son was being pulled away she saw the fright in his eyes. But along with the fear... there was also joy and pride.

Whatever would happen... she'd protect her son from anything that could harm him.

"Miss kumoro-san! Quick!" Kohta yelled as he managed to throw one of them on the ground with his shovel.

"Right!" The slender, yet tall woman turned around to face the danger that was strolling towards them. She felt the cold steel of her pistol pushing against her thigh but she did well to remember her son's words.

"_Don't use that gun Mom. Don't use it unless absolutely neccecary... it'll only make things worse."_

"Let's hope you're right Takashi. Right, ... Kohta-kun? Let's go!"

"Mom..." He watched the woman and his friend fight off the remainders of them before he finally managed to wrestle himself loose from the blonde's grip. He regained his footing and immediately went for his shotgun. He needed a weapon... it wasn't safe without one. He was rather surprised to see shaded blue eyes staring towards him. He had seen those eyes before... back at the temple. Yet this time it was ... different. It would probably always be different but this time it was more... demonic. The girl in front of him simply didn't remind him of the girl he loved anymore. T'was a good thing that that only appeared so for a mere second. He shook his face and rubbed his eyes before being engulfed by the exhausted beauty once again.

"Right! Let's go. It's safe."

"Takashi!" Rei suddenly yelled, sounding quite frantic in the process. The fear in her voice reminded him of that thing half an hour ago. And he was almost relieved that is was about Saya. Almost... but not entirely. As he saw the redhead (whom had apparently switched carrying duty with Shizuka) having trouble with supporting the pink haired girl he groaned quite loudly.

This wasn't going the way it was supposed to go.

"Shit... shit shit shit. Everyone, screw the mall! Follow this street and let's go towards the docks. Once we're there we'll rest." He made his way towards the two girls and without hesitating he took over Rei's duty and supported the injured girl on his back.

"Don't worry Saya, it's just a scrape." He thought he heard a faint giggle but quickly realized that he was wasting time. He walked forwards as fast as he could, but not before staring at his group once more.

Rei simply looked at him with fear in her eyes, but she seemed to be strong enough to grab her weapon and guard his rear.

Little Alice held the little dog between her arms firmly and was trying hard not to pick up a weapon and help her friends.

As his eyes continued with scanning his rear he saw all too well how Kohta and Suki came rushing towards the group, apparently they had successfully dealt with the majority of the stragglers before taking their escape for granted. Shizuka was waving at them and gesturing at them to hurry the fuck up.

The last one to check upon was Saeko. And as he turned to look at her he was quite surprised to see her look at him with a raised eye brow. Yet instead of doubting his actions any longer she nodded and with a soft "Yosh." She once again drew her blade and prepared to fight for their lives. ... Their lives, ... and her enjoyment.

The next half hour went by rather quickly, and flawless. Kohta and Takashi found themselves switching the carrier duty after every five minutes that passed. The fighting got less intense, and it wasn't long before they had reached empty streets once again. All this time Suki was simply staring at her boy and Rei. She also let her eyes cross the other members of Takashi's group and had quickly formed her first opinions about every member.

-The funny chubby boy. The bossy Saya she so loved. The innocent little girl. The guard dog. The professional doctor and age companion. Her little boy's girlfriend and last but not least, the serious sword wielding girl whom had knocked her out before. -

For a brief moment she was proud of her boy for being able to apparently lead this bunch of younglings. Yet she couldn't be proud for very long, for she was falling behind. And even though they were all tired of complete concentration, they didn't stop it. For one moment of laziness could mean a painful change, or even death at this point.

After another fifteen minutes of relentless surviving, the group was showing some serious gaps. Thankfully they had managed to completely leave behind the horde that was following them before.

Saeko lead the group, along with Shizuka and Alice this time. Whatever those two were doing in front? Nobody knew, but it happened. Most likely they felt the most safe with the indigo haired killer girl.

After a gap of at least seven meters Takashi, Suki and Rei followed. Not talking, since it was made clear that that could only cause troube.

In between came Kohta, Zeke and Saya whom was still being supported by the crackshot. Luckily for all of them, she was able to walk on her own for about hundred meters every four minutes.

They were still making way towards the port. Why the port? They really hadn't a single clue. It was most likely more a checkpoint where they would decide on a proper place to go. It's not as if nobody would come up with the idea of going there, and that's why they decided to go to the smaller port, which was meant solely for recreation.

They wouldn't have to walk for a lot longer as they already smelled the sea scent entering their noses. It really was... refreshing. The stench which hung above the city was totally outclassed by the salty smell of the pacific. As the eight survivors approached the last turn before sighting the port they paused and regrouped.

Obviously, it was Takashi whom began talking. Yet with his mother standing next to him it all felt a bit more embarrassing. Could it be that even in a time like this his teenage mind wouldn't allow him to talk shamelessly with his mother's presence? He gave the pale pink haired girl a quick gaze and noticed that her skin was almost as white as Saeko-san's . That was bad... right?

"Right... there's no saying on what we will find inside. Maybe nothing, maybe them, maybe survivors. Whatever we see... do NOT let your guard down until we've locked the place down. Got it?"

"So what? You just want to march on in and expect the unexpected? No no... not again Takashi." Kohta protested, and with it he received quite the stares.

"Well I... I... you're right." The leader nevertheless admitted. Both of them blushed a bit at the silliness of the stares they got. It wasn't even that weird what they had just said was it?

"-Sigh-... Idiots." A high pitched voice suddenly spoke. This time all of their eyes were guided down towards the little pink haired girl. Her hands were thoroughly searching her backpack for something which would, hopefully, come in handy.

"No... r-respect." Saya mumbled, before closing her eyes and trying to not think about the wound in her arm.

"There we go!" She yelled out loudly enough for the rest to shush her. Little Zeke barked in confirmation, but what she had in her hand was actually quite useful.

"Binoculars?" Rei mumbled and with that took the words out of their mouths.

"Yeah!" The girl grinned with confidence before turning around the corner and peeking at the far off port.

What she saw was both comforting and scary at the same time. The big wooden billboard which had always been the customer pull factor was still in perfect condition. The wooden entrance shag was standing as well. However, the gates were locked with a firm steel padlock or so it seemed. Signs of life weren't there, but the lock was proof enough that they would indeed have to be on guard.

"Alice, what do you see?" Instead of taking the binoculars from the girl, Takashi figured it'd be good to let her do something as well.

"Nothing... nothing but a locked gate." She replied on her military tone. It even seemed that she ended with a raspy voice, like a walki-talki.

"A lock?"

"Yeah, ... I don't see any people. We can easily climb over, or walk around it however." She now stopped with looking through them and made her place back to the group. Whilst patting the dog on his head she giggled. "I think it's safe."

"Well then..." Shizuka and Suki spoke at the exact same time. "Let's go." Both of the woman smiled and lead the way, forcing the grumbling teenagers to follow closely. The road towards the port was black and without blemish. Not a single crashed car, corpse, bike, plant or din was to be found. They all remember mister Tayaka, the owner the port. His wife always allowed little gang of children to play whatever they wanted on the sandy shores and the salty water, whilst he himself cursed them over and over again. It really wasn't an industrial port. If anything, it came closer to a recreation centre than a port. Nevertheless, ships entered and left via this place.

Upon arrival at the iron fence they saw that their worrying about the lock had been for naught, and that it hadn't been locked. Instead, it simply hung there, looking cool and bronze.

"Pfff... and here I had planned these cool ways of climbing over it." Kohta mumbled in a vain attempt to cheer up Saya. Obviously, it had the opposite effect, but nevertheless Hirano thought that making bad jokes would be better than to say nothing at all.

He made sure that Saya could rest against the fence before letting go and sitting down on a green eco bin.

"All right then... let's go inside and relive some youthful memories?" Takashi joked. He was already making his first step before being stopped by that cold voice which felt so warm.

"Not so fast. Taka...Kumoro-kun. Let's enter the house from two, or maybe even three sides." Not precisely sure why, but she found it to be incredibly hard to call him Takashi-kun in front of his mother. Blaming it on her code of respect she shrugged it off and figured it to be a temporary problem. Takashi however felt himself being slightly annoyed by his change of name. Didn't she know by now that she could call him Taki, Takashi, Takashi-kun or whatever people had come up with in the past years. Yet Kumoro sounded so formal.

The rest of the group noticed it as well, but for them it was a whole lot less significant than it was for the two lovers themselves.

As for Rei? What did it matter to her? She had lost him for now had she... so why would she care? Knowing that she was only fooling herself by pretending that she had no feelings left for the boy the girl let it go. _We'll be together again Takashi. I can feel it. _

And last but not least. Suki? Was is that strange that she didn't like that girl? Her neck was aching as hell and what was up with her personality anyways. Saying nothing, butchering them with a smile and sharing enraged gazes with Rei.

Nevertheless, Saeko had a good point. Just rushing in via the front door with eight noisy and armed people was sure to be a highway towards disaster.

"You're right, Saeko-san. We'll split in four groups. I take it we all know this place from before?"

"Yep." Hirano replied, as he though back about the countless times he had waved his parents goodbye here.

"I do... vaguely." Shizuka answered. If she recalled correctly, this was the place where the director of Fujimi Higschool had asked her out on a date. Thinking about that day made her giggle even today.

"Yesch!"Alice yelled. "Papa and mama used to watch boats with me here!"

"Of course I do." Rei replied quite monotone. This place was one of those spots which would remind her of the old times. The old times with Takashi, her father, mother and Hisashi as well.

"Brings back memories, right Rei?" Suki replied with a smile, oblivious about the grudges that were flying amongst and in between the members of team Takashi.

Saya didn't reply, ... she obviously knew this place from before. How could she forget her stupid father stepping on a boat with her mother. Leaving her behind with a maid in the process. _ Saya-chan... boats are too dangerous for a little girl like you. Wish daddy good luck. _Were her mother's words.

Last to respond was Saeko. The female samurai actually felt quite ashamed for being the only one whom had no idea anymore about this place's interior. Whilst the latter wasn't entirely true... she had tried desperately to isolate certain memories. And being in this place wouldn't help her in that mission at all. Yet suggesting to go somewhere else just because of her childhood grudges was even more shameful. She'd just stay out of those two places... No matter what would happen, she was going to stay out of that door. What could she do if she was forced to enter? Would she run? Ignore it? Laugh at it because it really wasn't that bad? No no... the best option would, out of hopelessness, drop dead.

_Sorry for this stupid cliffhanger! I actually wanted to write until they entered the building. But the reason I didn't do that is because I'm going to my friends now. And tomorrow I'll be off for a week since I'm going to celebrate my holidays! In the Ardennes._

_I could postpone this chapter just to write one/ two page(s) more but I figured I'd at least give you guys and girls something to read. And I wanted to let you know that I'll be on a short writers hiatus for a week. :D_

_This port stuff will be quite important, and I've decided on letting Suki only be partially insane. Outside she's perfectly fine, but as soon as something goes mentally wrong with her son or anyone she holds dear. She snaps, and loses it. _

_OH FUCK that was a spoiler. REMOVE IT JASPER! No... PISS OFF. I spoiled it? Haha. Anyways, I wish you jolly holidays if you guys and girls go away as well!_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Yamucha-san._

_(P.S. This is the last –unimportant chapter-. From here on, we'll get to more emotionally scenes.)_


	4. He'd think she'd want him dead

Next up, chapter 4. Or was it act 4? I keep forgetting what I use when I announce the next chapter. Ah well, I hope you will all forgive my laziness to check it out all the time. I think I use act don't I?

I do not own highschool of the dead, all rights belong to its original author and animators. I do own any characters which are newly added to the story.

**Act 4: He'd think she'd want him dead.**

"Bah this stinks…" Alice complained as she kicked a pebble towards a nearby barrel. The little girl and her dog had, along with Saya, taken shelter in one of the four major supply barns. These –barns- had looked perfectly fine from the outside, but as soon as the eight of them had stepped inside they were confronted with an all penetrating fishy scent. And yes indeed… they had entered the fish storage. Whatever it was doing at a place like this? None of them knew, but it became clear soon enough that it would be safe. No humans would make camp here, and after a quick patrol the group figured that there weren't any of them either.

Not long after they had reached the port they all knew so well, they had decided to split up and enter the main compound from three different sides. Alice would stay in the storage with Saya to, no matter how foolish, protect the injured genius. She had been given the honor of holding a pistol in her hand for the first time. And even whilst she would probably miss all shots, like Takashi has done over and over again, it'd still scare the shit out of the unwary survivor.

Obviously, the rest of the group split up in duo's as well. Maybe not the most convenient couples were made, but they felt as if they were in a hurry. They had no clue as to how late it was, nor did they have a clue if they were still being followed by them. It'd be best to clear the building, barricade the doors and windows and then set up some food and beds. This would be a great stop for the time being.

Suki, whilst not wanting to separate from her son at first, ended up going in with Shizuka. Neither of them held a firearm at this point, since the dazzled mother had given hers' to the little girl. Instead of guns they went in with an iron bar and a crowbar. The two woman would enter via the back door and would also check if there were any ships they could possibly use.

The two other groups consisted of Kohta and Saeko, and Rei and Takashi. Obviously, Takashi preferred to be with the blue haired girl at the moment, but it'd be best for them to split up. So that their specialties could be optimized. Of course, Kohta was the best shooter and Saeko the best melee fighter. And that was exactly the reason they teamed up. One would do what the other simply couldn't. That said, Takashi and Rei, though not outstanding in anything ( whilst I might add that Rei's martial skills are far above Takashi's), were still a perfectly balanced team. They could both fight and shoot, and that would be sufficient.

Takashi and Rei would enter via the front door as soon as they had made sure to lock the iron fence which was surrounding the entrance to the complex. Both armed with simple and crude melee weapons, they'd make sure to clear out the place.

Last but not least, Saeko and Kohta would enter the building via the top, using an old escape way to climb the wooden and concrete block. These two specialists were, obviously, armed with a trustworthy katana and a rifle. But since Kohta wasn't allowed to use his gun this lightly, he took the liberty of taking an axe in case of a fire emergency.

After a few minutes of coming up with a plan and mentally preparing, all of them nodded and went their own ways. Most likely nothing was inside and that was probably the scariest of it all. This place looked abandoned yet inhabited at the same time. Most places in this new world were like that. Perfectly tidy and clean, yet not a soul was there to be found.

Saeko and Kohta were quick enough with climbing the stairs but decided to scan the entire complex first before going in.

The other four were quick enough as well with finding their corresponding doors yet found themselves arguing about whether or not it was the good thing to do.

Bear with me whilst I explain these three separate adventures:

**Suki and Shizuka:**

"Here is the door…" The blonde mumbled.

"I see…" The brunette replied whilst feeling her right leg shake a bit. Clenching her weapon she stared right into the nurse's eyes and was kind of surprised to see her monotone and blank face. Had that woman no fear at all? "Well… let's enter then shall we?" She spoke as her hand made its way towards the door notch. With a simple click the wooden door opened loudly.

"Well… if anything's inside, it has surely heard us by now anyways. "

The two women were greeted by a big cloud of dust upon opening the door. And after coughing for at least two minutes they entered the all enshrouding blackness. The little sunlight they had from outside vanished quickly enough and going on would be insanity… . Obviously, Shizuka wasn't known her for intelligence and convinced her compatriot to follow her by simply going on. They were walking through a rather long hallway with a cracky wooden floor. Clenching closely to their weapons and listening to any suspicious sounds they made progress rather quickly.

"What are we even searching for?" The blonde suddenly asked. She knew all too well that they were trying to reach the entrance hall and barricade that place. But what she didn't know was where that place was. They were searching for a needle in a haystack if they hoped to find that place in a big complex like this.

The building they had entered eyed very cheery from the front. With wooden walls, tropical trees and all sorts of trinkets to lure the happy tourists. Sadly though… behind the silk curtain, there was the ugliness of yet another capitalistic enterprise. Hidden from public sight, this complex was just another cheap metal box. Nevertheless, the building was big. Very big even. Seeing that this was one of the headquarters of this tourists vacations company. The complex had three floors, Shizuka and Suki were located on the main flour now. We'll soon see that Takashi and Rei will enter the basement, and Saeko and Kohta are obviously on the third floor, making their way down.

"We're searching for any dangers that might surprise us when we set up camp here."Suki replied nevertheless, thinking that the blonde seriously didn't know what they were doing.

"Uh huh…"Shizuka confirmed. "We need light for that though. Let's find a window." Without waiting for a yes or no she opened a door to her right and entered the room. It was entirely black and a mere sunray came through a window with closed curtains and sunblind's.

"Shizuka! Stop walking off already." The brown haired woman exclaimed whilst almost losing sight of the blonde.

"Shhhhh." She got in return, and as soon as she felt a cold finger pressed on her lips she shut her eyes. Luckily it was the nurse whom appeared to have heard something.

"Wh-wh… what Is it?" The disturbed mother whispered.

"We're not alone…" Shizuka spoke very low and with a serious undertone.

"Eeek…. What d-do you mean?!' The other woman spoke on a louder and more frantic tone this time. He felt herself automatically two handing her weapon and looking all around her. The darkness however, revealed very little to her fragile eyes.

Before talking again, Shizuka grabbed the scared mother by her arm and pulled her into another direction. When the brunette stared in front of her she was scared to death when she saw the blonde's face. Dark eyes and an evil grin.

What the hell was going on?!

"There's something with us in this room." The blonde once again spoke.

"Wh..what do you mean? What's in here?!"

"See for yourself."

Within the blink of an eye Suki found herself scanning the room and was overwhelmed by what she saw. It was already too late for her to respond however. She saw a blinding light piercing her chestnut brown irises and squealed out of surprise and pain. In the blur of the moment she fell to the ground and covered her face with her hands. It was now that she felt a hand on her shoulder which pulled her up and turned her around to face whatever has done this.

The woman noticed something strange however… . As her eyes were adjusting to the light she noticed all too well how light the room suddenly was. Whilst still being dazzled she heard a woman's voice which sounded rather familiar. Was it laughing? … It sure seemed so.

When Suki was helped back on her feet the woman was blushing out of shame and embarrassment. Noticing all too well what had happened she coughed it up, straightened her hair and shook her face.

"… Never do that again." The woman spoke, almost angrily.

"Hehe." Was the only response she got from the nurse. "I only gave you some light to enjoy." Shizuka, whom was obviously proud of her well thought out joke could do nothing but giggle softly. But even she, no matter how daft at times, knew that they would have to push on. As she moved towards the door to enter the hallway again she stared at the brunette and found her to be… scarily silent.

The mother simply stood there with her hair covering her eyes. She was mumbling some words but the nurse really couldn't figure out which ones. When the brown haired woman finally began walking she seemed to almost stumble over, before finally showing her big sparkly brown eyes and smiling softly. "Okay… let's just go on."

"Y-yeah…" Shizuka stuttered. The blonde didn't know whether Suki acted like that because she was scared… or if she simply was ins… Nah, she couldn't be broken could she? She was way too sane for that.

Suki walked past the nurse into the hallway which now enjoyed a shed of light coming from the opened window. "Come, let's light up all rooms and get this over with. The others will be waiting for us, and we can't leave those two girls alone for too long." This time it was Suki whom walked off without waiting.

"Su…ki. Is there something wrong?" Shizuka asked whilst she jogged a little to keep up with the rescued woman. The brunette seemed to stagger for a bit when she was asked this question. A soft and evil grin showed on her face even, but nevertheless she smiled at the question.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit scared." Without saying another thing she opened the next door and entered the darkness. She was followed by the every so busty Mariwaka whom was, strangely, suspicious. Her being a nurse and all… she should have noticed earlier that a woman couldn't overcome such an amount of stress in such a short amount of time.

"Don't worry Suki. Takashi-kun is a brave young lad." She suddenly spoke whilst opening the next window. They appeared to be in a former directors office now.

"I know… He has always been brave. But rash as well. I just hope that he and Rei will support each other in times like this…"

"About that…" Did she really have to be the one to tell her that that couple was no longer? No, that'd be Takashi's duty.

"Hmm, what were you going to say?"

"Nothing, I hope the same. Come… let's keep going, I could use some rest."

"Yeah… me too."

**Busujima and Hirano:**

"Will she be okay…?" Hirano whispered to himself as he stared down at the fish storage. He had never thought himself to feel like this. Sure, he knew he'd be upset if something would happened to anyone of the group, but with Saya it was special. The boy was happy enough that it wasn't a deadly wound, and it would most likely heal within no time. "Alice is with her right? Hehe… that only makes matters worse."

Kohta jumped up when he felt a hand softly squeezing his shoulder for a brief moment. Luckily for him it was Saeko, whom was literally penetrating his brown eyes with her oceanic blue one's. The girl herself appeared to be rather surprised by his scared reaction but was able to ignore it with a soft chuckle.

"Don't worry, Kohta-kun. If anyone's going to be all right it's her." As she walked a bit forwards and stood right next to him she stared to the same storage as well. "Be it willpower or stubbornness, she has both of them in ample supply. And there is always Alice-chan to defend her."

Both of the teenagers shared a soft giggle at the thought of Alice defending Saya from evil villains and hordes of them. But even whilst they were laughing, they knew perfectly well not to underestimate that clever little rat called Alice Maresato.

"You're right, Saeko-san, thanks." He closed his eyes and inhaled before turning around. Holding his fire axe in two hands he made his way towards the iron door on top of the rood and prepared to swing it at the lock as hard as he could. Having Saeko following him quite closely comforted him, he didn't know why. Apart from her being a stunning young woman, there was something about her which instilled comfort in just about everyone. Maybe it was her skill with the blade, her bushido or simply her personality. Whatever it was, he was grateful to be paired with her.

"Saeko-san, stand back." He warned her.

He planted his feet firmly on the ground and lifted the heavy weapon above his head. "Right, here we go! RAAAGH!" With an incredible velocity the steel head of the axe flew towards the padlock. The violence was followed by the sharp sound of steel colliding with steel and for a short moment both of them thought that the lock had given in. Sadly for them… they were wrong. The stainless steel padlock remained in place as firm as ever.

"*pants* Shit… again." He repeated the process, but this time he missed. Almost imbedding the axe in his very own feet. With a soft squeal he staggered back before trying again. After four more direct hits he rested his body against the wall out of annoyance. This plan had been so perfect on paper… yet now they couldn't even bust though a single locked door.

"Bah… this isn't working. I wish it was all a little more like the movies." He partly talked to himself as well as Saeko. "Any plans?"

"That's a quality lock… We might try the air shafts?"

At first thinking that she was joking he giggled a bit. But upon seeing her getting confused because of his laughter he softly apologized. "The air shafts? Isn't that also something which only works in the movies? We'd fall right through or get stuck…"

They both looked at the big iron air shaft and indeed… it was a stupid idea. It seemed as if it would collapse as soon as a crow would land on top of it.

"Bah… if only we had a crowbar now. But the two we have are not in our hands. Can't you cut it?" He asked on a serious tone. This time it was he whom was greeted by some giggling. And exactly as before, the girl stopped laughing when she saw he had been serious.

"Movies, Kohta-kun, movies." She spoke softly and jokingly. She might be one of the best blade wielders in Japan, maybe even in the world. But cutting quality steel like this? Impossible.

"Hehe… I guess we're stuck then. Hmmm…"

They both looked around and were greeted by a chirping pigeon whom sat on top of the little cabin which held the firm steel door through which they tried to pass.

"Seems that even now we get mocked by those animals." Kohta complained as he growled to the two birds. He remembered all too well how often he had been pooped upon by those creatures. They were surprised however, that when they flew up something fell to the ground. It twinkled like glass but it appeared to be… steel? Stainless steel even.

Kohta carefully picked it up, not trusting it entirely, but soon enough smiled widely. "Haha, well it seems movie scenes can actually be real. I think we have the key!" He talked a tad too loud for comfort, but this luck stunned even Saeko.

"Really? Does it fit?"

"Let me see." He put the key in the padlock and in one fluid movement it clicked, opened and fell to the ground. "Well I'll be damned. Saeko-san… looks like we're really in a movie after all."

They looked each other in the eye and smiled.

"Come, let's go, Kohta-kun." Without waiting for a verbal answer she lead the way. Obviously, the girl knew all too well that he scared rather easily, thus had taken the liberty of taking the lead.

This duo as well, was welcomed by blackness as soon as they entered the iron stairway. However… something was off and immediately got their attention. A lamp… a flickering lamp. It was vague and barely there… but it was flickering all right.

"Would you look at that… seems that not all light sources have given up already." Kohta chuckled as he looked down towards the dim light source.

As both of them walked on and passed the light they found themselves to be hypnotized by it. Neither of them had expected to see artificial light in Tokonosu city so soon… and if it weren't for their task, this would be something to open a bottle of champagne for. What was a whole lot less amusing however, was that there were no other doors. This stairway lead immediately to the first floor, thus robbing the duo of any real opportunity to scour the facility.

"This door isn't locked… come." Saeko slowly opened the door and found herself to have entered a large open room. It was dark, but a couple of shady windows allowed some light to break through and reveal the entry hall.

"This Is the place all right…"Kohta confirmed. "Let's wait for the others then? "

"Y-yeah…" She sounded very uncomfortable out of the sudden and it didn't go unnoticed,

"Saeko-san… is anything the matter?" He asked carefully. Because of the dark he was unable to see her emotions, and that might just have been for the better. Her eyes were opened widely and her teeth were grinding on top of each other.

"N-no… everything is fine."

"Are you sure?" He asked without thinking it through.

"Yes! Never mind it… I'm… I'm just worried about the rest." Of course she lied. But Kohta seemed to buy it for now.

The indigo haired girl knew this place all too well. This was the place where she first saw that man… That damned man… It was he whom had changed her and her family's life. It was a good thing that she had gotten her revenge already… but that had only made things worse.

"Saeko-san…" The somewhat chubby boy saw all too well how the girl was clenching the railing with a lot more anger than which was normal. But whom was he to try and stop her… besides, she wasn't doing anything wrong was she. He himself felt something burning in his stomach as well though.

"I don't trust it with Saya and Alice out there." He spoke loudly enough for Saeko to hear him, but she obviously wasn't responding. All he wanted was for them all to have beds, food and light and safety. The first thing he'd do when they had gathered here would be to get the two little girls and their pet dog.

It was when he had these thoughts that they heard two familiar voices. They appeared to be whispering his and Saeko's name and it became clear soon enough that it were Shizuka and Suki whom had just entered the room as well. It was strange… he thought he would be relieved to hear friendly voices again. Yet something in the back of his head told him that there was only one friendly voice. The other one was… strange. Strange and unfamiliar.

Nevertheless, the four survivors rejoined, and all that was left was to wait for Rei and Takashi. They would enter via the front door no? Why was that door still closed?

**Kumoro Takashi and Miyamoto Rei: **

"Sheesh… it's locked…" Takashi mumbled as he tried to pull open the door with all his strength. As he felt sweating streaming down his front head he gave up and looked behind him. He almost got annoyed by that fact that Rei was just standing there, doing nothing, but for now he shrugged it off. "Rei, can I borrow your crowbar?" He finally asked.

"That's not going to work…"

"What? Why not? Isn't this what a crowbar is for?" He asked surprised. He was right wasn't he?

"Not when there's a metal chain holding the door together… Baka." Rei scoffed.

"What? A chain?" He stared at the door and yes… right there at the top there indeed was, a metal chain which was holding the frame together. "Oh…. Ohhhh…. Shit."

"Right. Any plans left now that your manly strength has failed you?" The red head spoke with closed eyes and crossed arms.

As Takashi looked at her he couldn't help but to chuckle. She was trying so hard to act like a bitch that it came across more as a comic scene than a real offence. What he couldn't laugh about however was the reason why she acted the way she did… Upon thinking about all this love stuff he felt his stomach twitch once again. He was happy with the way it turned out wasn't he? He thought he was… so if he thought it, then it had to be right. Right?

"D'erm… no not really. Guess we'll have to find another way in." The boy spoke on a rather weird tone.

"Another way? There's only one front door y'know? We'd be ruining the entire plan." Rei replied in protest. And she was right. It'd be rather useless to find another door, since that'd most likely be the back door through which Suki and Shizuka had already entered.

"What about that then?" Takashi said whilst pointing at an iron hatch right next to the main door?"

"That's not the front door…"

"Nope, it's the basement. But we'd still be entering via the front."

"And what makes you think that that isn't locked?! If anything is locked it would be tha…. Oh would you look at that." Rei was rather flabbergasted when the brown haired son opened the hatch without any effort. Truth to be told, Takashi himself was just as surprised but managed to hide it by coughing due to the dust.

"*coughing* Well…. Ladies first?" He grinned whilst saying that. Of course he wouldn't let her go in before he would have made sure the landing was safe. Without waiting for her answer he hopped in the hole and dropped himself in the basement.

Upon landing he immediately heard something crack, and that crack was followed by a sharp pain in his foot. "Ah shit…. Shit shit." He fell on his knee and went for his shoe laces, luckily for him the pain faded away as soon as he accidently fell over. "What the fuck was that?!"

"Takashi, are you alright?!' A worried voice suddenly barked behind him.

"Y-yeah, … yeah I guess. Wait a moment, don't just jump down."

"O-okay." She mumbled back. The girl walked away from the black basement and leaned against the door. _Sheesh… out of all the times I could have been with him… I have to be with him now? Fuck you karma…" _

As the young leader got back on his feet he felt all too well how a soft and warm liquid was coming from his foot, but since the pain wasn't that bad he decided to ignore it for the time being. He immediately saw what the problem was though, and he laughed at himself for not seeing it before. He had jumped right on top of some left over boards, causing that a nail had ripped right through his sturdy sneakers and drilled itself in his foot.

"Damn wood… I survive everything without as much as a scrape, and now I get hurt by wood…" He kicked the boards away from him and towards the corner of the somewhat small basement room.

"Rei, you can come in now… I think you will be scared by the evil rusty nail."

"Rusty nail?!"

"Yeah… never mind that. Just jump down already." It was not that she was being slow, it was that he was running low on patience. Especially with her at the moment. Then again… that feeling was likewise.

"Yes yes yes… I'm coming, sheesh." She sat down on the edge first and slowly let herself slide down towards the darkness. Well… this room still had the commodity of light, but both of them knew perfectly well that that gift would fade away all too soon.

As Miyamoto landed on the floor she saw the small trail of blood all too well. _ Auch… looks painful. _"A-are you really okay?!' She stuttered out as she looked at his white sneakers. The blood came from under his foot, thus the nail hadn't pierced his foot completely. That was a good thing wasn't it?

"Yes… leave it be. It just stitches."

He walked up from behind her and actually scared her a bit when he pulled her towards the door by her shoulder.

"What's the hurry?!' She angrily shouted at him.

"I just want to get this over with. I don't trust it with Alice and Saya out there." These words hit Rei just as badly as the thought had hurt Takashi before. If anyone were to find them it would be over… Alice was brave, but there's no way she would be able to fend for herself.

"You're right… sorry."

"Don't sweat it." As he opened the door to the next room they were indeed greeted by darkness. "Sigh… do you have a lighter or anything?" He asked in vain. He knew perfectly well that she didn't smoke.

"No… But I do have… uhm…" She went for her backpack and it really appeared as if she was on to something. Truth to be told, Takashi had little hope of her actually carrying some light source with her, oh how wrong he was. Out of her backpack she pulled a flashlight with a strange handle on top of it.

"A flashlight…? That doesn't work does it?" He already rolled his eyes and made his way towards the black void in front of them.

"Wait!" The redhead started rotating the handle and after a little while it seemed as if God gave them his biggest gift.

Light.

"Wowa…. How the hell?!"

"It's simple isn't it?! We wake up the electricity ourselves, thus it wasn't affected by whatever caused this disaster." She looked up his face and saw too her shock the biggest smile he had shown in front of her for a while.

'Rei… that's awesome!" In one quick movement he grasped the thing from her hands and started spinning the handle like crazy. Completely ignoring her puffs and groans.

The duo walked forwards and progress was made rather quickly now that they had a light. Room after room they traversed, but there wasn't a stairway to be found. Sure, some of the doors were locked, but those very doors didn't even resemble an exit.

After a while they sat down on some wooden crates and simply thought about the situation they were in.

What were the others doing?

How would they leave this place?

How were Alice and Saya doing?

After a short while Takashi got tired of rotating that stupid handle and simply let them sit in the darkness. They hadn't a single clue as to where they were right now but that didn't matter. The darkness really wasn't as scary anymore, now that they had checked most of the rooms. Even though the hordes of them were horrifying, the good thing about it all was that they were dumb and slow. If there was one in this basement, it couldn't possible sneak up upon the two younglings.

Nevertheless, the darkness had a strange effect on their moods. Yes, they kind of resented each other now. But in the darkness of the black, they searched each other's support nevertheless. They sat close enough next to each other that their shoulders touched from time to time but that was about it.

Silence was the dominating factor at first, since they both knew that they should be searching for an exit out of the basement, and then search the main hall. But as soon as boredom ruined the dominating silence, the duo decided to speak.

"So… what now?" Rei asked, in vain.

The young boy next to her really didn't want to talk about anything at the moment. He wanted three things:

Make sure Alice and Saya were safe.

See his girlfriend.

Get out of this uncomfortable position with his ex.

And maybe, just maybe, there was a fourth thing he wanted. And that was going back to the way everything was before the apocalypse. But hey… that was something everyone desired, but nobody was going to get.

"Hello? Earth to Takashi?!" She started to get annoyed by his behavior quite a bit as well. Sure, she had always been easy to tease and annoy. But now that he had dumped her for such an emotionless and potentially dangerous maniac, her patience was obviously a little bit low.

Upon thinking about senpai, her hand immediately went for her throat. She could feel the crust which protected her neck from bleeding out. The row on that day had really pushed the boundaries between the two girls.

Yet who was to blame? Her dad had just died… she couldn't help it that she was still angry and sad because of that could she? But to attack a fellow member of the group… yes, yes Rei knew that it was she whom pushed the limit. BUT, she merely pushed it. It was senpai whom blatantly jumped over it and put her razor sharp katana on her exposed neck.

"Unforgivable… both of us." She finally whispered. Completely forgetting that she wasn't alone. It was a good thing that he was barely paying attention to her as it was, or that might be the onset of yet another discussion.

What was stupid however, was that it was Takashi whom started the next conversation in the end.

"Rei, on the onset of this all, when I came for you and Hisashi during your class. What did you think?" His voice sounded sadder than ever, it was if he spoke this line with more regret than she had had when he had left her last night.

"W-why…?"

"Just answer me!" He spoke loudly, almost yelled even. She could clearly hear his fist banging on the wood and because of it she felt a steam of angst running over her spine.

"This is not the time Takashi…" This time it was she whom grabbed the light and tried to lead the way. This time is was also she whom did the right thing of not immediately overreacting. She had expected Takashi to grab her from behind and force the answer out of her, but was happy to notice that he remained calm. She shone the light on him for a brief moment and saw that he was simply looking down, causing an enigmatic shadow to fall over his eyes.

"It's never the time is it?" He asked softly. Too softly even, for Rei couldn't even make up what the question was.

"Pardon?"

"*sigh* … I'm getting sick of this. I thought I'd be happy now but something is still biting my conscience."

"Takashi?" She stuttered. What was he on about anyways? And why so out of the blue?

"You know what… nevermind." He suddenly moved his face up and smiled before jumping down and walking towards her.

"Wh… what are you doing?" She asked whilst blinking her eyes confused.

"Finding an exit of course. Come." He forced her to walk forwards since the girl had the light, but even now…. Even now that he had faked happiness.

His eyes twitched.

It was after another ten minutes that they finally find something which seemed to be a supply elevator. Of course, it didn't work… but the emergency ladder would still allow them to climb to the floor they had to be in the first place.

"Right… so who goes first…" Rei asked.

"… Me then? Like always…" The last two words he mumbled, but the redhead heard them nonetheless.

"Sheesh…. It's you whom always picks to go first. None of us has ever asked it of you. "

"That's…. not entirely true." He muttered back.

"Nevermind it! Gosh you're so juvenile… I'll go first." Without waiting for a yes or a no from Takashi she handed over the light to him and ordered him to shine upwards.

"Right… got it." Once he saw that stupid handle again he grumbled… _I'm already getting tired of this thing._

However, his grumpy mood would disappear as soon as he noticed the girl climbing. Sure, he and her were standing on the edge of fighting, but when it came to certain things he would always want to stare at her. As he stood almost right underneath her and was shining the light up he couldn't help but to stare up towards the struggling girl as well.

And what did he see there? Well… apart from her perfectly formed legs, he could perfectly see the goal of most men as well.

… panties…

"Pink?!' He spouted this out a tad too loud and he noticed all too well how she tried to figure out what he was saying. In an attempt to distract her he dropped the torch and acted as if it was an accident.

"Takashi! What do you think you're doing?!" She yelled downwards angrily.

"Y-yeah… Sorry! *coughing*" he grabbed the flashlight from the floor and began spinning the handle once again. Could he help it that he was a teenage boy with teenage fantasies? Could he help it that he was stuck with some of the most beautiful girls he knew. Could he help it that…. No, no he couldn't. And upon staring up again he noticed himself blushing and feeling ashamed of himself. He once again coughed and decided to tilt his head and stare at her back instead.

…

…

…

Okay who was he kidding? His eyes sidetracked anyways. It wasn't until she had reached the top after a few minutes that he shook himself awake and prepared to climb the same ladder as Rei.

"Throw me the light!" She yelled down.

"Are you nuts?" He yelled back, not wanting her to see his red face. He stepped upon the ladder and bit firmly on the handle whilst climbing up as well. Obviously, he had completely forgotten about the fact that he as well was carrying a backpack, thus his teeth started aching quite a bit after a while. Luckily for the boy, he climbed a whole lot faster than the girl before him, and once he had reached the top he was quite happy to finally get that thing out of his mouth.

He also noticed that Rei had gone ahead and seemed to be talking to someone about five meters from him.

"Really… the main hall?" He grinded his teeth quite annoyed… and yes indeed, they had reached the main hall. He followed Rei through the door and entered the big open room. What he saw there was both awesome and awful.

He saw six of his companions being perfectly fine, which was the awesome part. But he also saw that the main door had been opened.

"Really… you're telling me that if I had waited for fifteen minutes that we wouldn't have to go through that blasted basement?" He was talking to himself whilst walking forwards. Upon joining his friends he realized that the pain in his foot was barely present anymore. What he also noticed, was that Alice and Saya were already inside. _It seems that Kohta went ahead and got them to safety already. Good on you Hirano._

What really made him happy was seeing the fact that Saya was apparently smiling by a joke Alice and Kohta pulled on her. Yes, her arm was still faintly bleeding, but Shizuka was already busy with preparing for some sort of operation. Now that they had found yet another temporary stop they could rest their feet for a bit.

The young boy saw that groups were already being formed. Zeke, Alice, Kohta and Saya were obviously keeping each other company at the moment.

Rei was helping Shizuka and Suki, the latter whom felt it was her responsibility to help Saya. Seeing that it was she whom shot her in the first place.

That left only Saeko, and he was actually surprised that she was standing in a rather dark part of this place. Sure, she wasn't known for toying around, but locking herself away from the group wasn't something which he wanted her to do either. Instead of waiting for her to come to them, he made his way towards her.

As he walked past Saya he couldn't help but to release a big grin. It was great to see that even Saya, the most bitchy girl he had ever known, was starting to genuinely get a liking for Kohta. From all people, he really hadn't expected it to be Kohta. Not that he didn't like it, in fact, he couldn't think of a better guy.

Whether she saw him as a friend or as a potential flirt he didn't know. All he knew that it was good to see that the two were getting along slightly better than before.

He had completely forgotten that he was walking towards Saeko and was thrown of his sockle when he suddenly stood in front of her. Slightly blushing and coughing he took a step backwards and regain his composure.

"Saeko-san… are you all right?" Instead of answering, she turned her head away which both surprised and annoyed Takashi. If there was one thing he couldn't use right now, it was another girl bitching at him for having done something wrong. But then again… for his samurai he could make an exception. "Saeko-san?" He placed his hand on her shoulder and was greeted by one of the biggest hugs he had had in his entire life. He actually felt his air being squeezed out of him because of the girl, yet nevertheless he wrapped his hands around her and simply stood still.

She wasn't crying, don't get me wrong. She was thinking, thinking and weighing her options so to speak. But the things about which she thought were something which had cursed her for a long time. Not only her, but her mother and father as well.

As her scent reached his nostrils he automatically calmed again and forgot about his slight annoyance from before. He now moved his hand around her waist entirely, and the other he place on her hand and gently stroke her hair. It wasn't very Saeko-ish to act vulnerable like this. Only once had he seen her like this, in the temple, as we all know by now.

What was wrong with her? Did she get in yet another fight? Did she lose herself again on the way down? Whatever it was, he'd ask her when they had a little more rest. For now he'd simply do nothing safe embracing her nonverbal cry for his support.

After a few silent minutes he stared up for a mere second. But what he saw disturbed him. His eyes crossed path with Rei, and it was obvious that she showed nothing but resentment. But when his eyes locked on with his mother's… he got quite scared actually. They eyed black, black and full of anger. And they were staring at him at first, yet slowly they moved down and locked on the girl in his arms.

Yes… she hadn't known about him and Saeko… But this wasn't just disappointment in her eyes. This was rage. But how could she be this mad about teenage love?

If he hadn't known better he'd think she want him dead.

_There! A long chapter once again. Did I say 3 days? I made it! Did I saw the story would begin? Yes I did… and well, I guess it does begin here. Though I doubt it's as intense as I wanted it to be. I wanted another scene between Rei and Takashi in the basement, but I scrapped that idea and saved it for later. And no, it's not sex. Or is it? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I'm not spoiling anything anymore._

_Now, maybe Takashi's random question to Rei seems very fake. And yes it does seem very fake! But My own crush pulled the same joke on me last night, by suddenly asking such a difficult question out of nowhere. Therefore, it isn't fake, and I felt that I should add a similar situation in my little cosy story._

_Next one will be up by Sunday, I hope. Then my school starts again! : (_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Yamucha-san._


	5. Exhaled the breath of the dead

_**IMPORANT! READ THIS! NOW! I've gotten myself a new keyboard and I'm still getting used to it. So this chapter will have slightly more spelling mistakes that the normal one's have. Please excuse me!**_

_Bros! I'm single again! Can I now enjoy the single's life? Just as Takashi should have done when it was over with Rei! Maybe this is a sign, that I have to live his life, so that I can meet these awesome chicks of his group as well._

_Oh my… what the fuck am I talking about. Erherm… right._

_I do not own highschool of the dead, all rights belong to its original author and animators. I do own any characters that are newly added to the story._

_**Act 5: Exhaled the breath of the dead. **_

"Hold her still!" Shizuka yelled at the two boys whom were both trying with all their force to keep the pink haired glass wearing genius acting girl in place.

"We're trying! Jesus where does she get this strength from!' Both of the boys spoke at the same time. It wasn't the fact that she was twitching that was weird, it was the fact the she was almost overpowering two teenage boys whom were far from weak themselves.

"I almost got it!" The blonde exclaimed whilst trying to wield the tweezers as precisely as possible. Yet Saya's struggling and crying really didn't make the job a whole lot easier. They all knew it hurt, but it had to be done. If any splinters would be left in the wound it'd only make things worse for herself, and the entire group.

Rei and Suki were constantly getting fresh water and towels from wherever they could find them. It was a good thing that this was an old cruise ship port, thus bathing equipment was here in ample supply, but fresh water proved to be quite the obstacle. It was a five minute walk to the nearest working sink, and that was WAY too long for the current situation.

Whilst six members of the group were busy with tending to Saya's wound ( that included herself.) Saeko and little Alice plus her dog went outside to see if there was anything useful. They could see they had two hours, at most, before the sun would set and darkness would once again engulf them. Before that, they would have to barricade the door and get everything ready for the night.

"Is Saya going to be all right?!" The little girl asked with a lot of difficulty. She held her puppy dog firmly and was relieved when she got a lick in her face. As for Saeko's reply, it was an obvious one. Obvious and perfect.

"Yes, no doubt about it." She heard her screams coming from the room they had just left, and so did Alice. But it would make her tougher in the end.

"Good! Did you hear that Zeke! Now we can tease her even more!" With that said she made a short sprint forwards and spun the dog around.

_So innocent… It reminds me of someone. _The indigo haired girl thought with a soft smile.

"Saya! Stay still! You're only making it worse!" The blonde yelled just as serious as ever when she was operating. Just as with Saeko back in the mall, she was afraid. And because of that fear she was a better doctor than ever. She moved the tweezers precisely through her biceps, carefully avoiding any major veins. Nevertheless, squirts of blood came shooting from the wounds at times and all of them knew that that wasn't normal. It seemed the bullet did more damage than they initially thought.

"Just a little longer!" She winked at Suki to throw fresh water of the gaping hole and in one last lightning fast movement she took the last fragment between her forceps and pulled it out.

As soon as the by now warm steel had left her body Saya spouted out a sigh of relieve and immediately lost het conscious. She fell asleep whilst her head was supported by Hirano whilst Shizuka was wrapping bandages on her arm. Not long after both Takashi and Kohta removed their school jackets and wrapped them up to form some sort of pillow. It wasn't perfect… but it was good enough for the time being.

"She needs rest now boys… I'll stay with her." The nurse spoke. It really amazed them how they always pictured her as a dumb blonde, but whenever she was needed she was there. She was there and did her duty more efficient than any doctor would be able to do in a –normal- situation. Then again… was this really doctor's work? It came closer to the function of an army medic. Whatever she was, she was good at it.

Both Kohta and Takashi stood up and looked down at the girl. There was some sort of vague tranquility to be found in seeing someone fade out because everything was under control. Not exactly sure why, but they simply stopped worrying at this point. Maybe it was because they simply knew Saya was too strong to simply give in to pain. Or maybe it was simply because the events of the last few weeks were affecting their minds to a higher extent than they had imagined.

"Come Kohta… let's wait for Alice and Saeko to come back and then lock the doors. "Takashi mumbled.

"Uhm… I-… I'll stay here for a bit. Call me when you need help barricading something." Takashi was pleasantly surprised by his answer. And even though the young leader didn't let him notice it, but when he walked away he had a big grin on his smile. Maybe more for Saya than he had it for Kohta. Because… truth to be told, he knew Saya for a whole lot longer than he knew Kohta. That said, he was also a tad worried. Knowing Saya, she'd probably just scold him when she would wake up. Though… Kohta was probably getting used to that by now. Maybe he simply really loved her tsundere side?... Maybe? Takashi was damned sure his friend loved that side.

As he had reached the door he noticed that there was absolutely no sign of the two girls. Seeing that they were only gone for twenty minutes, he didn't immediately worry but instead decided to lean against the opened door and close his eyes for a bit.

It was strange, because even though winter was coming, the weather was exceptionally decent. The sun shone down on his front head and he felt himself warming up. It was a good change from the cold that had been plaguing them ever since the onset of this apocalypse. Yes, it had never been terribly cold. But the sheer atmosphere and knowledge of an approaching winter was extremely frustrating.

Nevertheless, Takashi stretched his arms and if it weren't for the somewhat rough wall he was leaning on, he'd have surely fallen asleep. His rest didn't last for very long, seeing that after a small ten minutes he seemed to hear something.

"wh.. what's that?"He tried to locate the source but found himself looking in every direction except the good one. The boy wasn't even sure what he was looking for, since all he heard was something reminiscent to footsteps and cracking wood. Was something climbing the building? In the blink of an eye he looked up the wooden wall off the building and seemed to actually see something just reaching the top and disappearing from sight. He shook his head and watched again, only to realize he was staring directly at the sun. He rubbed the pain out and gave the wall one last inspection, only to see nothing safe for yet another burst of sun rays.

"Fucking hell.. what the fuck was that?!" For a moment he panicked and looked around if there was anyone whom could have seen him and his sweaty forehead.

Who was he kidding? Everyone was inside either tending to Saya or preparing some makeshift beds. Everyone but… where was Suki? Where was his very own mother?

"Pff… probably getting some more water."He now stared at some clouds and chuckled when he figured he was seeing some sort of deformed bagel in the sky. Observing the sky however, got boring quickly. Instead he tried to listen to some of the conversations coming from inside, but was disappointed to hear that his friends were too far in the back of the room. What did bother him however, was one sentence he figured he had understood properly.

Whether it had been Rei or Shizuka whom had spoken he didn't know. But when they stated that it was weird that Takashi didn't go with his mother the young leader found himself questioning his ol' lady.

_Come to think of it… how the hell is she acting so sane out of the sudden? When I got in that house she was knocked out, the bruises on her neck still show the force which was used. And yet she shot Saya? Meh… what the hell Takashi. Are you be hating on your own mother now? I suppose I'll just have to talk to herself about what has happened. But… if it's going to be that easy, why do I keep having this stupid gut feeling, that something is greatly amiss in this house. I don't know what, who or where… I don't even know if there's anything wrong to begin with. But mom's acting weird… And come to think of it, Saeko as well. Why is she so incredibly down ever since we got here? Bah… whatever. I'll just find mom and talk to her. I have some questions regarding dad anyways… _

At the thought of his father he swallowed loudly and almost felt his eyes getting wet. He remember all too well how he had scoffed him when he went to school that morning. It's not as if they had a big fight or anything, just some bitching at each other. Yet for that to be his last words to his father hurt him greatly.

The boy moved from the wall and made his way towards the others. Upon arrival Rei immediately asked him, like he had thought: "Why haven't you gone with Suki?"

"What? I didn't even know she was gone. "He replied rather ferocious. It wasn't as if he was angry, it came closer to being worried.

"She said she'd search for little Alice and Senpai with you. Didn't she call you?" Rei replied, still on a rather kind tone.

"N-no… Not a thing." The boy remember those footsteps he heard all too well. Had they been his mother's? No… that couldn't be, he was sure that those –steps- came from above himself. Then again… he was tired and had been drowsing away. Maybe he had even fall asleep for a little bit and thus his mother had left him there? Bah.. his head began to spin upon thinking about it.

"Well… I'll go and search for her then… was it something important?"

"Nothing special as far as I'm concerned. She just wanted them to be back." The redhead replied, once again a bit too nice. Nevertheless, Takashi bought it.

"Well then… I'll get myself some water and join her after all. You want a glass as well?"

"S-sure… why not?"

"All right, I'll be back in a bit."

With that said Takashi started to make his way towards the nearby reservoir without all too much worries. He felt strange actually… why wasn't he worrying as FUCK? Upon thinking about it he started to slightly increase his pace. His mother was only searching for his love and his –child-? Yet those eyes. Those all-consuming eyes she had showed before when Saeko had embraced him were still haunting his judgment.

"No… something is wrong." He whispered to himself. "Something's terribly wrong." Without thinking anymore he turned around and increased his pace towards the front door. Upon passing Rei he saw her confused face.

"Takashi, what's wrong?!" She yelled at the boy, genuinely worried.

"Something isn't right out there!" He ran past Shizuka now as well. The blonde was rubbing her eyes and tumbled on her hindquarters with a high pitched squeal when Takashi came rushing by.

Kohta didn't pay any particular attention to his rushing friend, for he was occupied with giving Saya a good bed.

The young leader didn't really care about anything at this point. He didn't even know about what he was getting himself fired up about. Most likely his mother was only worried about the two girls out there, but… but…

"Fuck this shit… I need to see her anways."

**Saeko and Alice:**

Walking on the wooden scaffolds of the port Alice and Saeko found themselves inspecting the ships, but were more busy with enjoying the sight. When the two younglings stared at the ocean's horizon they noticed the peace of the ocean's breeze ,the innocence of the deep blue and the refreshing effect it had on their minds.

Somehow it was relaxing that there was absolutely nobody around here. If the two girls forgot about the sounds of agony in the far away city they would feel worried and guilty. But here, at this tranquil place, they felt nothing but comfort. For Saeko it was great to be away from the building she resented so much, and the faster they were gone here the better. As for little Alice? No matter how tough she acted, she was still just a little girl whom had lost everything. Her father murdered in front of her eyes because of the fragile human mind, and her mother had simply disappeared. According to her dad she was still alive… but what were the odds?

As they walked the dark brown wooden scaffolds they were greeted by a sight which was just as peaceful as the ocean herself. Bright white ships had docked and were still in perfect condition. From small speedboats and sailing vessels, to somewhat larger cargo ships. But, without contest, the biggest of them all was Tokonosu's famous cruise ship. It had been praised all over the world as the unsinkable ship, and in memory of the titanic, it had been given the same name. However… this time it was arguably truly unsinkable. Barely anyone knew the secrets behind the ship, since the Swedish enterprise funding it preferred to keep its secrets secret. The latter which was understandable, but annoying as hell for other firms.

"Would you look at that! Wow!" The young girl gasped as soon as the monstrosity caught her flashy eyes. Immediately she dropped her guard and grabbed the older girl's her hand. It was not as if Saeko hadn't seen it yet, she simply didn't show any emotion at the sight of the ship. "Saeko, Saeko look at that!"

"I see it.." She replied on quit a bored tone. She had never really cared about foreign companies seeking their glory in Japan. And this ship wasn't an exception. Sure, she knew the economy needed the foreign exchanges… it was just that she loved Japan for what it was. Not for what is was becoming.

"Isn't it awesome!" The little one said whilst climbing a wooden box in order to get a better view at the ship. The pet dog followed her and as soon as she was on top she squealed out of surprise. She was on even topping with Saeko now and as the two stared at the behemoth the urge to enter became big. Way too big for their own good.

"Saeko! Let's get the others and sleep in there!"

As the older girl saw their –foster child- being this happy she couldn't help but to smile a little herself as well. With slightly curved lips she almost felt sorry for neglecting her excited question.

"We can't… who knows what is in there?"

"There was nobody in the building was there?!"Upon asking this Alice heard all too well how the katana wielding girl immediately groaned softly.

"N-no…" She closed her eyes for a bit but felt that the sunlight actually changed her mood for the better. "We might do so tomorrow… all right? As for now, let's just rest our minds and bodies a bit." Upon hearing a positive reaction the young female samurai looked around a bit and noticed a place where they could rest their feet in the water.

It wasn't long before the duo had climbed over the dozens of barrels and crates and upon reaching the place they were trying to reach their minds were even more enlightened. The water was blue… VERY blue. It also appeared to be kind of shoal since the surface was clearly visible. The latter which was slightly strange, seeing that there were such massive ships docked here.

As the katana wielding girl folded her arms and embraced the wind blowing through her hair she noticed all to soon that they were far from alone in this port. Slow shadows were moving on some of the ships, yet none of them appeared to be human. In an attempt to leave her little companion in ignorance, she offered to bathe their feet in the glittering sea water. Both of them stored their shoes in one of the barrels and sat down on the wood.

As Saeko touched the liquid with her toes she shivered… the water was colder than she had anticipated. However, it didn't seem to affect little Alice even the slightest. The girl was throwing her little legs in and out, making sure to spatter the water on both of them. Nothing of importance was said in the next few minutes, and the mood remained neutral until some sort of acknowledgement was required.

"Saeko…?" She asked after having watched the sun moving down for about ten minutes.

"Hmm?" The other girl replied whilst resting her head on her hands and softly moving her legs through the water. At this point the only thing on her mind was the fact that she had forgotten to rid herself of her stockings before drenching her legs.

"Where will we go now?"

"Why do you ask?" Saeko replied rather monotone. Yet after watching the little pink haired girl and concluding that something was bothering her she lightened up a bit. "I know as little as you. … Wherever Takashi brings us I guess."

"Y-yeah… I think that's the best for all of us no?" Little Alice replied in a way which made her sound like an adult.

"Are you doubting? Alice-chan?"

"N-no… just wondering."

"Wondering?"

"Y-yeah… something bad is coming but I don't know what. It bothers me…" The girl replied whilst raising her feet from the water and hugging her knees.

"It pains us all Alice-chan." Upon saying this Saeko stopped twirling her feet and simply sat still with her arms resting on her lap. "If anything… it pains Takashi the most." She didn't even notice her blushing cheeks, nor the stare she got from Alice.

"Do you think we'll make it?"

"Make what?" Busujima knew all too well what the girl meant. Yet simply answering such a rash question wasn't part of her agenda.

"Y'know… do you think that we'll survive. " Her little fingers rubbed her eyes and seemed to be peeling away some tears.

Saeko watched down and faintly smiled upon seeing the normally so tough girl losing it. She was definitely not enjoying the agony of her little companion, but it was a good thing to show emotions wasn't it? _ I'm one to speak… _ The kenpo master mumbled.

"Yeah… as long as we stay together there's no doubt about that." And never before had she really believed herself when saying this line. This time was different. The katana wielder truly believed it. But it appeared that she was the only one.

"And that's exactly what I fear." All of the sudden the girl covered her face with her hands and seemed to be sobbing. Before Saeko could even come up with anything to say the girl had already regained her composure. A thick stream of liquid ran down her cheek and eventually fell in the limitless ocean. "Hehe… I must come across so out of character right now… don't I Saeko-san?" She slightly turned her head in order to make eye contact and was elated to be greeted by her vaguely grinning pale face.

"The only thing which is out of character is you referring to me with honorifics. " Ignoring the fact that Alice had completely changed her personality, Saeko figured it'd be best to let it be for the time being. She knew she wasn't any good with kids, but apparently this eleven- year- old trusted her enough to be showing her tears.

Nevertheless, it was Alice whom continued the conversation. Whilst the sun was almost starting to fade away behind the horizon the two girls remained on the scaffolds near the splashing and waving water.

"Do you think our group will indeed stay together?" Whilst asking this she kicked the water and looked at the little rainbow that was appearing in front of her eyes.

"Why do you ask? Is someth…"

"Because of you and Rei." As soon as these words had left her mouth she very well knew that she had crossed the line. Placing her hand before her mouth she immediately gasped and looked at her indigo haired elder.

But… instead of facing an angry face, she sat eye to eye with the most cold and most emotionless stare she had ever seen before. It reminded her of her aunt whom always used to scoff her for ruining her reputation. But this was… worse. Way worse. Yet it was also… comforting. It was strange and she didn't know why, but upon seeing this face she knew that Saeko cared for their well being. It made her believe… it made her courageous, and last but not least. It made her desire for friendship and company.

Now more so than ever.

"What do you know about me and Miyamoto?" It was a stupid question. Saeko knew the girl had seen Rei's throat being sliced open, what more was there to know?

"Enough to realize the hatred between you two." She stood up firmly and made a straight face, suddenly puffing. "But then again… It's a girls romance to hate the competition." She placed her hands on her juvenile hips and shook her head.

"Alice-chan… what are you on about?" She had been on the edge of getting angry earlier, yet now it was starting to become slightly… disturbing. Awkward even.

"You and Takashi obviously. Don't think of me as a blind girl. I'm an expert on relationships!" She stood up even straighter and with blinking eyes she confirmed her intelligence about romance.

"A-a… Alice-chan?" As she had to slightly look up at the girl now it was difficult to take her seriously. Ignorance is bliss right? How children were able to switch from depressed to elated state was beyond Saeko. However, she certainly wasn't complaining about it. Being teased and lectured by a little girl was always better than to talk about the group's future. Was her crying an act after all? No… those tears from before had been real. And so was her contemporary smile. Maybe, just maybe, all of this was getting to her head.

"Miyamoto and me aren't on friendly terms, but … it's nothing that time won't fix." The latter she lied. Truth to be told, she was getting more and more thoughts and ideas of dealing with Rei. From harmless one-liners, up until her beloved and dreaded dance of death.

"I see. Well… I always thought you were a better match for Takashi anyways…" She grinned at her own comment and chuckled softly upon noticing the cluelessness upon the blue eyed girl.

"W-what…?" She was actually rather flattered. Yet… what the hell was going on?!

"Yeah, you heard me. Rei fits better with Hirano." Saeko almost, for the first time in her life, spontaneously face palmed upon hearing this. But instead of losing her composure completely she decided that it was time to get back inside. It was dark inside one of the nearby ships… but she could have sworn she heard a groan and a scream coming from one of the boats.

"Alice…-chan. Come, let's get back. The rest must be getting worried about us"

"Hehe… yeah, sure." The little girl ran to the barrel and put on her shoes, thereafter she handed Saeko's footwear. After removing her soaked stockings and simply holding her shoes in her soft and sensual hands Saeko decided to go back bare footed. A few splinters in her foot couldn't hurt all too much now could they?

"Saeko…" The girl had sprinted ahead a little bit but now seemed to be standing still.

"Hm?"

"Do you see the ocean?"

"… Yes."

"It reminds me of you." Once again, she appeared so serious. Patting her little pet dog she now turned around to finish her compliment.

"Your eyes, they're equally blue. Maybe even more so…"

What was she trying to do? She was too young to be flirting and she didn't strike Saeko as homosexual. "T-thanks." However, she couldn't deny being slightly happy with a neutral compliment on her eyes.

"No really… it reminds me of you and T...-" Before she was even able to finish her sentence she felt a hand around her waist and was pulled back towards the very being that had snuck upon her.

It all just happened too fast, but above all, it happened too suddenly.

"HELP ME!" The little girl yelled with all of her might as she immediately noticed that there was no getting out of this arm's grip. Strangely though… something was wrong. The arm wasn't aggressive, nor was her little pet dog acting hyped up at all. It wasn't barking nor growling. Zeke was simply staring.

For the dog this person was friendly… what else could it be. Hadn't this very woman walked with them to this place? Heck… the woman had even given him food. And we all know by now that enemies don't give you food right?

She first looked at Saeko, and noticed that even when she had her hand on the sword's grip, she hadn't drawn it yet nor was she rushing towards her. Then the little girl turned her head to see what she was being pressed again. It was vaguely soft… yet it was thrilling and was way too warm for it to be one of them. As soon as she looked over the side of her shoulders she saw the familiar brown hair, slender form and brown eyes. It was also at this point that Alice noticed that she was being pressed firmly against the woman's bosom. Even whilst she had relatively small assets compared to the rest of the girls she had been traveling with… it was still awkard. Why in the living hell did she sneak up upon her anyways?

"S-suki?! What's going on?!"

"Shhh Alice-chan… I'm just protecting you." The woman hadn't finished her sentence or they heard another scream coming from the mainland. It was still rather far off, but it was obviously moving towards them. They weren't sure whether or not it was because of this voice that Suki put down the girl but kept a firm grip on the girl's small and fragile arm. What they were sure about however was that the woman had pulled out a pistol and was pointing it straight at her son's girl. Pink haired Alice really wanted to scream, run or fight. Anything was better than the stiffness that had embedded itself in her muscles. She couldn't move a limb, let alone try something. No… the girl was literally stunned. Maybe even mentally paralyzed for the time being, considering that they all knew that that pistol was loaded and would kill a man without effort. All it took, was one slip of a finger and boom… it would be over.

"It's over… snake." Suki spoke a tad louder now as she tried to offend the kendo master whom was about five meters removed from her. With a loud click the safety was removed and all sound seemed to be erased from the world hence after. It felt like a movie scene, as the only thing that reached their ears were the gusts of sea wind and their tensing muscles.

The yelling voice that was coming from the main building was coming closer fast and seeing that the brunette woman was vaguely smiling upon hearing this, Saeko figured it was exactly what she wanted.

_But… why? _ Saeko thought to herself. She hadn't done anything wrong this time had she? Maybe even worse than the fact that there was a gun pointed at her, was the fact that there was no way in hell for her to defend herself. She was out of range and out in the open. And even if Suki was only a decent shot, even a toddler could hit a target which was a mere five meters further.

The voice in the far away was now clearly recognizable as a boys voice. And, quite logical, both of the females were elated to notice Takashi rushing towards them. Her lover and the other's her son was about fifty meters in the background and he would be arriving in quite the situation.

"There we go. Prepare to say bye bye… Saeko was it?" She completely straightened her arm now and placed her finger on the trigger. Sighing slightly and shaking her head the woman appeared to be whispering something before pulling little Alice close to her hips.

"Kumoro-san… Stop it, right now." The blue haired girl eventually said, knowing all too well that it was useless to try and reason with a gun wielding psycho.

Upon hearing these words the woman began giggling and shaking. Violently setting one more step towards the murderous girl in front of her. "Stop it? STOP IT?! IT was YOU whom attacked my son back in that house! YOU! NOT ME!" Upon screaming her finger muscles got tensed to such an amount that the trigger began moving.

"Attacked?" Saeko pondered. She had never even made a hostile move towards him had she? Worrying about her murderous state she tried to remember if she had ever lost control around him… but even when she had, she hadn't harmed him. At least… not physically. "Kumoro-san… I would never harm your son.I l…."

"Don't even SAY that word miss! I know your kind… Ohohoho believe me I know you." … She made one more step closer and was gritting her teeth so hard that even Saeko could hear it. But even whilst she was threatening one girl in front of her, the woman was still a mother. And you can say what you want… she was still embracing Alice in her arms as if she was trying to protect her from death.

"Tsk…." Out of reflex Saeko felt her own hand increasing its grip on the blade's hilt. Obviously she knew that drawing her katana would mean her dead. That said, if the woman would set even one more step she'd, though barely, be in range. Considering her last options and weighing each of them properly the girl knew that she had to strike if the chance would ever appear.

And of course she hadn't forgotten… Saeko knew perfectly well that it would all be over with Takashi if she were to kill his mother. That would also mean she had killed two parents didn't it? Rei's father… and Takashi's mother.

It was strange, mysterious even. Yet something inside of her became ecstatic about that thought. Normally she would become wild, and lustful… at times even slightly aroused by killing. But this time it was different… it felt greater, deeper and even better. Oh the agony she could inflict by simply making one strike to end it all. One strike to start it… and one strike to bind it all into darkness.

"SAEKO!" A male's voice suddenly yelled from a relative close distance. "MOM! WHATARE YOU DOING?!" It was takashi all right, and as soon as his somewhat boyish yet manly voice reached her ears she shook her head and was perfectly awake again. Feeling some cold metal pushing against her front head she realized she had been spacing out.

It was a big shock actually, it was big enough of a shock to make the mighty busujima daughter squeal softly.

Yet the real reason for her scared groan was the fact that the girl had just realized she had almost entered that state again… This was the fourth time in her life she had done so. The first time being the endless rage she had had against her family. Second to that came the rage she had unleashed upon that –poor- man whom tried to violate her. Third time was that one time when they went to check Rei's house… and now… almost, the fourth time.

Once again she was shaken awake, this time by a somewhat blunt pain on her front head. Apparently the woman had been poking her face rather roughly. This time however… Saeko saw she had a chance. The woman's head was turned towards Takashi. Alice wasn't in this world at this point… and Takashi… well he would understand would he?

… would he?

…

Of course he wouldn't… who was she trying to fool.

"Mom, what in the hell?! Stop it!" The boy had his baseball bat firmly in his hand but was unable to do anything, fearing that if he came closer the trigger would be pulled. And with trigger he meant either the pistol's trigger, or the trigger in Saeko's brain.

"Takashi! It's so good that you're here!" The woman yelled with a suddenly altered voice.

"Let go of that pistol mom… RIGHT NOW!" He yelled at the top of his lungs since he knew perfectly well what his girlfriend was capable of when pushed in a corner. He would take responsibility right? Yes he would… but he'd really rather not.

"Takashi, are you blind?! This girl attacked you back there!" She yelled whilst shaking her head with a shivering body. Her legs were barely lifting up the weight of her upper body anymore. The only muscles that remained tensed beyond reason were the ones on her right arm, holding the pistol.

Sweat was dropping down on the ground from both Takashi's, and Suki's face. And it wouldn't be long before something happened.

The young leader shivered himself as well. But instead of anger, he shivered out of fear and sadness. Imagine… your very own mother having lost herself right in front of you. Your very own mother… threatening your very own girl. And why? Because Saeko had apparently attacked him? That was a hug… that was one of the most meaningful hugs he had ever gotten. Why on earth would it have been an attack? He had seen his mother's eyes back then… he had seen the emptiness and murdering instinct inside of her irises which so very much resemble his own.

"Mom… what are you blabbering about?! Get away from there right now!" He tensed his arm and prepared to make a run at her.

"Why?!She needs to pay, no?"

"Mother…" His face found Saeko's eyes now. He saw her eyes changing from round and hypnotic, to edged and furious every few seconds. For a few seconds she stared at his eyes directly, only to gaze at her possible target afterwards.

"Mother, she's my girlfriend. She hugged me! She'd NEVER attack me!" Instead of keeping up his yelling he changed his voice to his usual soft and careless sound. "Please… just stop this."

"T-Taki… I'm not only doing this for you." She once again poked the pale head in front of her.

"Then for who else?! Why are you even d…"Before he could finish his sentence he saw his mother's eyes looking at Alice. A flood wave of spite came running over his spine as he saw the girls terrified eyes. Then he saw his mother's hand pointing at the scaffolds to the north.

What he saw there wouldn't be that strange hadn't it been for the explanation that came with it. A mere two of Them strolled towards them, considering they were wearing Hawaiian shirts they had probably been tourtists, but nevertheless… they were there.

It was simple of him to even doubt Saeko's action… but his mother remained his mother. Why would she lie to him? For everyone that would have been a logical question, because she had lost herself in the chaos of the new world. But for her son, for Saeko's boyfriend, it struck him as a bullet through his heart.

"Takashi… this so called girlfriend of yours was leading Alice to her death. Do you think she even cares about you? Do you think she even cares about anyone?! It was Rei whom you made the promise with! And I see very well in your face that you still love HER and not this… this… wench!"

"M-mom…."

"I'm not done yet! We haven't even had the time to properly talk alone Takashi! I know I come across crazy… I know I am losing it. But I do NOT want to lose you as well! After your father left I have been alone my dear… all alone…"

Tears were beginning to flow from her red eyes and she had long since stopped with aiming at Saeko's face. Her arm had stopped being tensed and simply hung now, causing the cold metal to rest upon the samurai's ample bosom. It would have been a rather sensual sight even, wasn't it for the situation at hand. What had began as simple tears was slowly morphing into a miasma of agonizing tears.

"M-mom… I…"

"You don't know what it is Takashi! I went home early from my school to see Takeshi… And to see you as well! And upon reaching home there was nothing… nothing safe for blood and guts everywhere! TAKASAHI! Don't let a girl like this ruin your childhood dreams… don't let your dreams fade away. "

It wasn't long before Takashi himself was having troubles with keeping his eyes dry. What was he supposed to do? Saeko-san would never lead Alice to her death would she? That couldn't be true… He quickly looked at his oceanic girl and what he saw was less than comforting. That grin… that smile and that horrible shadow cast over her eyes.

"S-saeko… I know you didn't but…"

"Takashi, my dear son, my dear dear son. " The woman sniffed hard now and rubbed away some tears. "Stop being the leader you are not… get back to being yourself… get back to Rei as your girlfriend and Saya as your friend. Get back to how it was before. Only then will you be able to retain your humanity! ONLY THEN!"

She began yelling and after that the air was once again filled with sinister laughing. First it was Suki whom did the psychotic laughter… yet, when the woman stopped to catch a breath, both of the Kumoro's heard and even worse laughter. No… not a laughter… more of a chuckle it was.

"Mom… get out of there…"

"Takashi… I'm going to do this for you… believe me." She once again focused on the girl, pressing the pistol straight ahead and in-between the girl's breasts right at her heart. Wanting to see the face on the samurai's face she looked up but was greeted with the last thing she had expected… Were there even words to describe what she saw?

A girl?

A monster?

The devil incarnate?

"NO SAEKO DON'T!

The last thing that was heard on the scaffold for now was a loud and horrific yell. Followed by metal which was falling on the ground. Four people were still breathing, and all of them in a different way.

One exhaled the breath of fear.

One exhaled the breath of the impossible choice.

One exhaled the breath of a bottomless pit of resentment.

And the last one, exhaled the breath of the dead.

_Fuck cliffhangers right?! Fuck me right?! Wait what… no! Piss off. Uhm… bwoh din'td I say I'd upload on Sunday? Well.. the fool's on you if you actually still believe those promises by now. I think I made… 3? 3 out of the… infinite amount? xD_

_At any rate. I have BIG news for you guys and girls. Next chapter will go back to the HotD roots. Some fanservice, some humor, some drama. I even think it is about time for another love scene. Maybe Saya and Kohta? Maybe Saeko and Takashi? Shizuka with Takashi and Kohta? Or maybe Rei with Kohta like little Alice said? Maybe Alice with Zeke… WAIT I DID NOT SAY THAT! FUCK, PISS OF I SAID NO SUCH THING!_

_Anyways, this chapter was a pain in the ass to write. I actually like it, though it is obviously of lesser quality then other's before this._

_Now…. I want your opinions on something, so please react. Must Suki be alive,or dead? I want her dead personally. But I realize perfectly well that the set-up wasn't that great so I'm thinking of postponing it. _

_Next chapter we'll get some new visitors. And after those visitors! The adventure part of this act begins. I have decided to make them … NO SPOILERS! MUwuhahaha_

_Oh and one last thing. I've been drawing a lot. And even though I still have to master the HotD style of doing things, I can draw a Saeko and make it look like a properly drawn sexual goddess-like Saeko. Haha, no it's not that good yet. But… it got me thinking. Should I draw the cast in the way they are dressed now in my own fanfiction?_

_Or even make a drawing for each chapter? Don't worry. It won't slow down the writing, since they are separate hobbies._

_Hmm… I'll think about it. Oh, and if you're a certain Russian guy whom obtained a new motorbike and tried to make me jealous with it. 3 I love you to._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Yamucha-san._


	6. Act as if we are dead to each other

_All right… This will start off with the ongoing drama. But nearing the end, I want it to be somewhat more HOTD-ish. Because… uhm…. Because I simply want that. _

_I do not own Highschool of the Dead. All rights belong to its original author and animators. I do own any characters that are newly added to the show. _

_WARNING, this is a LONG chapter. _

**Act 6: Act as if we are dead to each other.**

It is weird not to be able to move .It is even weirder when you're not able to do so because of the events which are unfolding right in front of you. The only part of his body which was still willing to move were his eyes, and all they could follow was the thick stream of the dark red liquid that dropped down through the wooden scaffolds and into the sea. The young boy felt his teeth grinding on top of each other. If he would use even a bit more force he'd snap his own teeth in the process. His urge to scream something was bigger than ever, yet his vocal cords failed him. Everything failed him… And thus it wasn't long before he stumbled over and fell on his knees.

"M-m…. Mother?!" He shook his head and closed his eyes before repeating that word again. "Mother…. What have you done?!" He clenched his fists and beat the ground with all the force his muscles could summon up.

The boy knew perfectly well that two surviving eyes were strongly fixed on his exposed and battered body now. For the female eyes it was clear that what she had done, had to be done. Yet the boy was so close to her…. Both mentally and physically. It would take her a mere step and reach to lay her hands on the boy. Yet she did no such thing, the woman simply stared down at the now so frail figure. Covered in blood the female began to stare at her hands. Since when was blood so sticky…

"Mom… why didn't you run… Tsk…." He felt his fists clenching again and just wanted to completely wreck every single bone of the thing that still had its razor sharp blade embedded in his mother's throat. For a minute blood literally began spraying into multiple direction, and the shiny steel made sure the body wasn't falling down on the ground. After yet another few seconds the dark metal of his mother's very own Norica 38 Magnum Model revolver fell on the ground. And judging by the sound of squishy flesh being torn open, the blade was being pulled out now as well. Takashi didn't dare to open his eyes… he simply couldn't. He looked away yet couldn't block out the sound of a lifeless and still twitching corpse falling on the ground. The beaten boy even seemed to hear sounds of flowing blood and squirting guts.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU RUN?!" He once again gritted his teeth and slowly opened his eyes. He wondered… was it strange that he simply wanted to swing his baseball bat at the killer's head. And boy did he want to swing it…. In fact, swinging wasn't even the correct term for it. He wanted to crack its skull and smut all of the surrounding scaffolds with its blood. Yet there she was… The girl, the demon and his messiah.

It was stopping him from killing her… but it certainly wasn't stopping him from walking towards the girl. The latter whom was simply staring at her own hands, amazed by the thick red liquid streaming and sticking though and on her fingers. For a mere moment it even seemed to be beautiful enough for her to taste it… it really was an attractive appetizer. Come to think of it… she hadn't eaten since quite a while. Would blood give her sufficient nutrition? Or does it get more healthy if the donor has suffered more? This was a one shot kill, straight through the bruise from this midday.

"So… enrapturing." She softly whispered to herself on a tone which was colder than ever before. Saeko moved her fingers a little bit. At first she stretched them before making a fist and stretching her hand again. The water of life seemed to be glued on her hand and she really was in a trance because of it. Yet… that also made her totally oblivious of the fact that her boyfriend was steamrolling towards her.

Takashi really tried to see the light. He tried to convince himself that it was out of self-defense, which it actually was. But it was his mother for goodness sake… HIS mother. The wood underneath his feet even seemed to give away at this stampede as loud crackling sounds following his every step.

He would have certainly thrown himself at the hypnotized girl in front of him weren't it for the fact that there were two barriers. The first one, which was of the least importance, was the fact that there was simply no willpower left in his body.

The hindrance that really stopped him though was the little girl whom was still standing still as stone, a mere meter removed from Saeko. That wouldn't be as bad weren't it for the fact that her frozen body was sprayed red and seemed to have stopped breathing.

As Takashi bumped into her he suddenly snapped back into reality. As he shook his head violently his vision became less blurry and his brain was once again able to add one and one.

"Alice…" Without thinking about it he grabbed the little girl in one arm and kept her close to his chest. Whatever this world was coming to… the children were still mere children. And not a single one of those ignorant and innocent creatures should have been exposed to the amount of horrors which Alice faced every day. As he patted her head put her down on one of the barrels that was out of sight of the bloody corpse of his mother he returned his attention to Saeko once more. She seemed to be totally oblivious of the fact that two of Them were still strolling towards her. All that was bothering her mind was the question whether she should taste the water of life or not. She moved her hand upwards and even got as far as slightly spreading her lips to taste it. The girl couldn't hear anything but a faint radiating sound in the back of her head. But as seconds slowly passed by for the indigo haired girl, her sharp senses seemed to be picking up another sound. At first her pumping heart and flowing blood were the only things she heard. But now there was… another sound. It seemed familiar? It seemed to be in pain? Whomever was screaming had to know her… the agony and rage which were hidden in that voice were so familiar… Could it be?

"Takashi…?!" Saeko suddenly spouted out. Within the blink of an eye she was snapped back into reality and heard everything there was to hear in her life. Her eyes enlarged at the sight of her pale and bloody hand just in front of her face. Her right hand tightened around her blade which she still held firmly . And if it wasn't for the fact that she had to rub some blood out of her oceanic eyes he wouldn't have put it back in her sheet. As soon as her face was –relatively- clean she tried to locate the sound which was obviously being aimed at her.

And upon looking over her right shoulder she immediately spotted her boyfriend. His eyes were red, limbs were shaking and his red singles showed his tensed muscled all too well. He was angry? At her? She looked back at her hand and upon following the trail of blood which dripped down her tender yet terrifying hands she spotted it…

The girl saw the gruesome damage she had inflicted upon that woman. That woman which was so close to Takashi yet so far away from her. Her gullet was laying on the wooden scaffolds which had been brownish before, yet were so drenched with the red fluid that it got closer to reddish black than brown.

And then, for a single moment, she seemed to be regretting her action. But there was nothing more wrong than that thought. Yes indeed, she staggered back a few steps and gasped out of surprise. Only after that it began to be even more terrifying. Instead of showing even the slightest bit of remorse she grinned. She grinned out loud. She grinned out loud, louder than ever before. And if it hadn't been for Takashi finally running up to her to give her the biggest and most rightfully deserved straight punch she might have just started to laugh out loud at the sight.

His fist made contact with her left cheek and as crazy as she had been before, the girl was once again back to her normal 18-year –old self. A small crack was heard inside of her head and the taste of blood became more than apparent. So this was how it tasted? But this was her own blood… Without having time to react she lost her footing because of the sheer force and bodyweight of that punch and fell on the ground with a loud smack. Saeko's head hit the floor quite hard and a feeling of dizziness was gathering in her head. A normal person would have definitely fainted at this punch, but then again. Saeko wasn't a normal person.

No…. She was both an angel and daimon incarnate.

Instead of fighting her attacker the young woman decided that she would simply wait this one out, for she had to give this event a place in her heart before being able to fight it. What had even happened? She knew one thing all too well…. Takashi's mother had been brutally murdered by her very own blade…

Was this the end between her and Takashi already? Did her sadistic alter ego really took the better of her? Did she really…

No longer could the beaten girl think before her strain of thoughts were interrupted by Takashi's yelling voice.

The guy was pointing with his finger towards her whilst preparing to attack the two of them.

"You stay there! Do NOT move an inch! Not a single one! YOU GOT THAT?!" Without waiting for an answer, which he would have never gotten anyways, he ran off towards the two of them. He was, for the first time, going to enjoy this. And not just enjoy it, no… he was going to unleash all of his anger upon those two walking former lovers. Their Hawaiian shirts would be even more dampened with blood. Yes…. Oh yes…. His bat would never again make bones crack as hard as it was about to.

Little did Takashi know…That his personality became dangerously close to the thing that had murdered his mother. Was he starting to like this as well?

At this point it was obvious… but would he also do so in the future?

That was a thought for another day, as for now he would simply raise his bat and splat brains all over the wooden floor. If only there had been more of them… then he could have painted the sea red with their useless blood.

If only there had been… for this wasn't even close to being enough to satiate the rage over his lost mother.

**Inside of the port house.**

"They sure are taking their time…" Rei muttered as she leaned over and looked through the somewhat dusty windows. It was really getting dark outside now and she had started a fire. Yes, she knew that it was a dumb thing to do inside of a house, but the entrance hall was large and made of stone. Some make-shift beds were gathered around the crisping fire as well as a small table and some chairs. They were lucky that they had entered this building. Out of all places they could have gone, none would have been so soundly rich in supplies as this one. Thick blankets for the winter, and flashy bikinis for the hot summer days. Whatever they needed, it would be here. It wasn't that strange in Rei's point of view. This was after all Port -Umi mizu-, Tokonosu's most luxurious tourist attraction spot. What did bother Rei though, was the fact that there was literally nobody here. Out of the 1.6 million people that lived in this city, one might think that at least a single one of them would have thought of going to this place.

Well… it hadn't exactly been their plan either. They simply got here because the way to the mall was blocked. It was a big drawback that they lost their guns, but maybe this place offered even better things. And that was comfort and relaxation. There were bound to be some pistols or rifles hidden in this place, since the former owner of this place was notorious for his selfishness.

Also there were clothes in ample supply. Although it were mostly summer clothes, there were some jeans and sweaters which would go perfectly with the upcoming colder weather.

"Takashi… Alice… please be back before nightfall. I worry about you all…" She mumbled to herself as she was thinking of what was going on with the four members whom went astray. "Even about you… senpai." If it hadn't been for the past few days, Rei really felt different about Senpai. In both a negative, and a positive way. Sure, she hated the woman beyond reason, but ever since she was completely beaten in fair battle even Rei had to admit her prowess.

"Rei! Can you give me a hand please!" The blonde nurse yelled from the small fire. As Rei turned around to see the woman wrestling with a can of boiling hot water she couldn't help but to giggle. The woman wore those amazingly big kitchen gloves and seemed to be too scared to put the can on top of the contraption they had made above the fire.

It was in moment's like this that Hirano's military train came in handy the most. He had successfully crafted some sort of oven and had made sure that the main door could be firmly locked within a second. The windows still weren't barricaded but that would be something for later. As for now, he simply sat laid back on one of the chairs as he was listening to his grumbling stomach. He wanted food… Why did they have to wait on the rest? They could at least make a start right? But noooo, Shizuka insisted that they'd wait. And to make things worse the woman even went and tried to make the most delicious smelling green tea ever.

"My life… sucks." He joked to himself as he tried to refit his glasses out of habit, but only now realized that he had lost them long since. His vision was a bit blurry… but it was nothing too bad. After all, he had gotten used to it by now. Bullies took away his pair of glasses about once a week. In those moments he had been kind of forced to see without glasses.

He was still daydreaming when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. "Geck?!" he gasped and almost jumped from his chair as he noticed that it was Rei's smiling face whom was greeting him and offering the poor boy some well earned tea.

"Thanks, Miyamoto…" He didn't really know why he still called some of them by their family names. He knew her well enough by now to be calling her Rei right? It was just some habit of his… A habit which would probably never go away.

"You can Say Rei, Hirano."  
"T-thanks… you can say Kohta too!" He semi-joked as he rubbed his hand through his hair. It wasn't that funny… but it allowed them to smile a little. As Rei sat down next to him and looked at Saya she did indeed feel regret. She didn't know why…, but regret was the closest thing to describe it. Saya was such a good girl, and she wasn't there to help her? No, all she had done was failing in killing even a single one of Them. Though… she had to admit, it was a special case.

Upon saying that, she seemed to hear some rumbling on one of the floors above her… yet as soon as it had come, it had left again as well. "Did you hear that?" She asked nevertheless.

"What?" Kohta asked as he was licking his burned lips._ Damn this stuff is hot!_

"Hmm… never mind." Rei spoke. It was weird… she really thought that her ears had caught the sound of footsteps. What she didn't know however, was that she had just noticed the same thing that had passed through Takashi's watch an hour back.

"Anyways… any sign of Takashi and Co yet? "Kohta asked as he once again sipped from his tea. Normally he would have picked come cola or sprite. But in times like, plain green tea was even better. It rekindled his energy and allowed him to put up a smile. Ever since he had witnessed Saya being shot he had felt down. Most definitely, she was NOT in a life threatening situation, it was the mere fact of her being hurt and crippled that scared him and the rest of the group.

"No… I'm beginning to get worried… b-but we can't just go out there and leave this place unguarded can we?" Rei stuttered out as she as well burned her tongue to the tea.

"Nah… we can't. We need to guard Saya and…" he looked to his right and saw Shizuka struggling to fill her own cup of tea."And… miss Muriwaka. "

"Hehe… yes I guess we have to. But can't we at least leave the door open, maybe we can hear something?" She really wanted them to return and simply have another calming time with the entire group. No stress, no adventuring and no killing. Just a little peace.

"I don't think there's any harm in that…"Kohta replied as he failed to gather up the courage to say no to the beauty called Rei. And, to be totally honest, he himself was more than just worried as well.

The two of them helped Shizuka get comfortable after she had thrown her boiling hot tea over the ground by filling her second cup. Afterwards they went for the door and opened it. The two younglings were greeted by an orange sky and clouds. The sun had long since disappeared behind the buildings and they had, maybe, ten minutes before the sky would start to turn black. Rei and Kohta sharpened their ears but didn't hear anything. At one point the two thought to catch the sound of someone screaming, but that appeared to be coming from the city, not the port.

"What the hell are they doing…" Rei once again whispered to herself. She knew perfectly well that Takashi didn't bring his gun with him. Senpai still had her blade but that only made her worry more…

She knew Suki had her old western-like revolver. It was the fact that Alice was with them which made it all just that much scarier.

"Miy…. Rei-san? Let's give them 15 minutes more before we go and search them?"

"Y-yeah… but not both of us. You'll stay here and guard Shizuka and Saya… it's too dangerous to leave them alone. "

Both of them looked at each and other and nodded. And so it was decided that they'd wait for a little more before setting out to find their friends.

**Back at the scene of violence.**

A certain guy was panting heavily as he held his bat in two hands. His face was now smutted with some bloodstains, as were his clothes. But that really wasn't a problem for him. He felt relieved… he felt pleased. The two of Them that had come from one of the boats were literally spread out all over the scaffolds and the ocean's waves.

"Damn… that was good." His tears had long since made place for anger, and that anger had now subsided to relaxation. He had lost his mother, but he still had his friends. Maybe his father was fighting the good fight somewhere out there as well. He looked back at his mother's corpse and knew that since there wasn't anything he could do to save her, he had to let her go. He wasn't the first one to lose one of his parents. Rei had lost her dad, and he was sure that millions more had lost their life givers.

If there was anything to regret, it was the fact that he himself had failed as a leader. He should have looked after Saeko and Alice. He should have looked after his mother. And he should have looked after himself as well. He knew he had hit Saeko as hard as he could, he himself heard a soft crack as well but he simply hadn't cared back then.

For now there was only one thing to do… and that was getting themselves to safety. The commotion they had caused had lured others of them off the boats. There weren't a lot of them, just about seventeen in total. But on such a narrow path with two staggered girls with him that was more than enough to kill them all.

"We have to get back inside… now." He ran back a bit and grabbed Alice again. He carried her on his back before turning to Saeko, whom had by now taken the liberty of sitting straight in tailors position.

"Saeko-san! Come, we have to go!" He was having trouble with not looking at his mother, but the boy knew perfectly well that he could just leave her like this. As he walked towards his girl he made sure to grab two trinkets of his mom. One was the dark metal revolver, which still had six bullets. The other was her third of the pendant. Takashi had had one, but had long since lost it since he hadn't particularly cared about it. And of course, his father had one as well. Though it would never be complete again, it still held a lot of loveable memories.

Mind you, that grabbing that blanket forced him to tough Suki's opened throath. But frankly… he just had to have that thing with him.

When he noticed that Saeko wasn't making any motions or even attempting to follow him he shouted again.

"SAEKO! Come, we need to get inside!" obviously, at this point he didn't really have that much patience with her. Even when he saw the small line of blood coming from the left corner of her faintly pink lips he didn't lose his composure. In one swift movement he grabbed her arm and pulled the girl on her feet.

The eye contact that followed was something that they would never forget. His comforting brown eyes were shivering slightly out of both hatred and pity. Maybe still a bit out of love.

But her eyes held so many, yet so little emotions. The blue of her twinkling lights was shattered and had made place for a vague shadow which hid her emotions.

"There is no time for this, COME!" He pulled her arm and forced her to walk with him. After a while he felt her body strengthening and released his grip. Together they made a ten minute hike towards the rest of their group, all the while Takashi was thinking of what he was going to say about this. Should he tell them the truth? If Rei found out about this then she would definitely try and kill Saeko. That would either wind up with herself dying an equally horrifying dead, or with his girl laying in a puddle of her own smooth blood.

Whatever would be the outcome… he had to avoid that.

As soon as they walked around the corner of the fish barn they immediately heard the voices of Kohta and Rei, whom were more than happy to take note of their mates.

But…

Sadly…

One of them was missing… where was Suki?

Takashi looked at the ground as he and his entourage were approaching Rei and Kohta. He knew what he was going to say. In order to protect Saeko, which he really didn't want to at the moment but he simply felt that it was his duty. And in order to do that, he would have to deny the violence. Even if Alice was sprinkled with blood, he had to deny Suki's dead. He had to deny his mother's dead and act casual. Just at this thought alone he clenched his fists and began to increase his breathing pace.

"Tsk…Get yourself together Takashi. You can cry when you're alone…" He swallowed his sadness, curled his lips and gave both Kohta and Hirano a smile. He walked to the entrance, with Alice on his back and Saeko just behind him. Immediately Rei ran towards them and screamed upon seeing the blood.

"For goodness's sake?! What happened?!" She patted Takashi on his shoulder but found her hand to be drenched with blood upon contact. Yet, when she looked him in the eyes, she saw not sadness, but pride. "Takashi, where is Suki? Why are you all covered in smut?!" The girl looked over Takashi's shoulder to look at Alice's eyes, but all she saw were shivering pupils and twitching lips. As her eyes changed from the infant to Saeko she was greeted by the most shocked eyes she had ever seen.

Senpai had blue eyes, she knew that, but never before had they be as grayish as they were at this point. They were neither twitching nor crying, they were normal. Besides the color that is. Then why did they worry Rei that much?

She staggered when Takashi grabbed her arm in order to get her attention. "Rei… don't worry. All is fine…"

"Don't be a fool! Of course there's something wrong! Where is Suki?! Where is your mother?!" As the redhead was yelling at Takashi she violently shook his shoulders, but he remained calm and cracked yet another smile.

"We ran into a lot of them… Saeko-san was protecting Alice but they end up being trapped. When I got there, the last thing I saw was my mother distracting the main part of the horde… "

"What?! But… How did you get so bloody?! I don't believe you?! What happened with Alice?!' She kept bombarding him with questions and she eventually got a snarl from him. Upon realizing what she was doing the girl apologized and calmed down."I'm sorry… sorry for both my behavior and for you Takashi. Suki was a great woman…"

It might have been for the best that Rei wasn't staring at Takashi face at this point, for he frowned quite a bit at the mention of his mother being a great woman.

"Y-yeah… yeah she was Rei. Thanks."

"S-she…. She's alive isn't she?

"Of course she is… you know her. I bet she'll find her way back here within no time…" He gave Rei a pat on her shoulder and allowed Kohta a faint smile as well before walking past the two and making his way into the main building again. He gurgled and spit on the ground as he stretched a little and tried to act as regular as possible.

Once more, he was followed by Saeko and he only put down Alice once they were inside again. Leaving Kohta and Rei behind, confused beyond reason.

"How can he be so care free? His mother is out there…" Rei spoke to Kohta.

"Y-yeah… "

"He normally runs for everyone if he has to save a person. We're talking about his mother here! Why the hell wouldn't he do the exact same thing for his very own mother?! It does not make sense!" She started yelling at Kohta and at the door. She wasn't mad, no, she was confused. At this point she didn't question Takashi's word, why would he lie to her? It was not as if what he had told her was unbelievable. No, it was in fact perfectly possible. But his behavior was what was getting to her. And Alice and Saeko… why were they acting the way they were? Or better said, why weren't they acting at all?

"Rei… come, let's get back inside. We'll talk it over around the comfort of a fire…" Hirano spoke whilst staring at the now blackening sky. It was a clear night, and he had spotted both the big and small bear within no time. He expected her to give him an angry stare, but instead she nodded, smiled and chuckled at his remark.

"Y-yeah, that's as good an idea as any. Let's go."

Upon entering the building again they immediately noticed Shizuka over the bloodied bodies of the three. Ordering Takashi to sit down, she basically choked him with her breasts as she was expecting his back for any bruises or scrapes. Of course she didn't find anything, safe for a couple of veteran bruises.

Ordering the boy to go and wash himself she started to do the same thing with Saeko. Shamelessly lifting the girl's skirt and shirt up just to check for injuries. Normally even Saeko would have at the very least blushed, but at this point she didn't care… there was nothing to see anyways. Even when she felt Shizukas hand slide between her legs the once proud Busujima didn't respond. Only upon being ordered to get Saya to go and wash the girl and herself did she once again move.

With Alice it was the exact same case and the girl quickly followed the older females whom went off to the jaccuzi's and sauna's.

As Rei and Kohta reached the puffing nurse they both shrugged and sat down. Immediately Shizuka took her chance and jumped upon Rei and pinned the flabbergasted girl on the ground. Having no time to respond at all she was surprised at how much that blonde woman weighed.

Could boobs be this heavy?

"Geck! What are you doing Shiz…,. Argh, I'm not hurt! Stop it! That tickles!"

"Stay still! They said the same! You can't have that much blood on you and be fine!" The woman tried to be as angry as possible and only stood up only after having groped yet another former student.

"Shizuka-sensei what the hell?!" The girl redid her skirt which was pulled way up. "I didn't even go with them!" As she looked in the blonde's eyes with a blushing head and an annoyed undertone she was really surprised at how neutral that woman looked.

"You're all good Rei. Now go, and wash that dust out of your hair. You're dirty!" The woman stood there, with one hand on her right hip and the other hand poking at Rei's nose.

"That's your fault! Sheesh! Fine!" She picked up her fallen hairclips and stormed towards the bathing room.

All the time Kohta had just been sitting on his chair, enjoying the whole sight off the two girls having struggled like that. What he didn't like however… was the fact that the blonde woman was now slowly turning around and was staring at him with an evil and sinister smile.

"Kohta-kun...?" The nurse asked slowly and with a heavy tone in her voice.

"Y-y-y-y-yes?!" he spoke as he shivered and immediately sat straight.

"Do you have any wounds?"

"No Miss, of course not miss!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, quite su- AAAHH!" Time slowed down for the boy as he saw the oldest of their group jumping in the sky. Her eyes looked like the one's of a cat as she came flying towards the terrified boy. Within the blink of an eye, and after a loud bang, Kohta as well was subjected to a quite…. Intensive examination.

He tried to come out from underneath the woman at first… but hey, after a while he figured that this wasn't that bad was it? As his head began spinning and his blood began rushing through his veins he could feel something coming up. What was that feeling? Was it a…? A…?

**At the boy's bath place.**

"Oi, Kohta, did you bump your nose?" Takashi asked as he saw his clumsy friend strolling into the dressing room.

"Y-y- N-n-…. It was a turtle…"

"A…turtle?" Takashi spoke as he raised the singlet over his head and soon after removed his trousers before making his way to the water. He had already got a fire started underneath the water and was hoping that it would warm up pretty soon.

When he didn't get an immediate reply from the boy he already guessed that something with sexual tension had come over him. Which was a good thing, for he knew that stuff like that would make a guy like Hirano happier than anything.

Come to think of it… Such thoughts made himself happy as well. He, getting it on with Saeko? Saeko… No, it was too early for him to be thinking about her in a good way. He would forgive her, that wasn't the question. But he was pissed off at her, which isn't that strange is it? As he closed his eyes whilst trying to get used to the cold water he sighed out loud and started rubbing the blood from his face., not thinking about the fact that the draining system was not functioning. The crusty blood remained flooding in the water, but the bath was big enough for that not to be a problem.

"So… tell me Takashi." Kohta suddenly spoke as he himself lowered his body in the water as well. At first complaining about the cold, he as well felt that the fire underneath was slowly starting to have effect.

"Hmm?" Takashi muttered as he opened one eye. "Tell you what?" He had his arms nonchalantly behind his head and actually didn't really feel like talking.

"Tell me what really happened…" Kohta stuttered a bit at first, but had finally gathered the courage to ask this question.

Thus it wasn't really weird that Takashi's answer was rather violent. "I already did… you listened right?"

"Y-yeah… but you really expect me to buy that?" Kohta refit his nonexistent glasses whilst coughing.

"I do… it's the truth." He lied, once again. He noticed all too well that Kohta was trying to pierce his brain in search for the truth. Luckily for Takashi, his friend seemed to buy his story.

"Fine… I guess you have no reason to hide anything."

"Indeed…" The young leader didn't feel anything for talking, nor did he feel anything for acting like a dick towards the innocent and witty Hirano."Look… I'm just worried about my mother and the girls…" The first part was an obvious lie, since his mother was lying dead in a pool of her own blood. The second part of that sentence however, was true. He was genuinely worried about both Saeko and Alice. Furious at Saeko, but worried as well. As for Alice, he only felt guilt for that little cute cretin.

"I see,… well, knowing you, you're mother should be at least as tough." The guy joked, not realizing Takashi's twitching eye. "As for the Saeko-san and Alice-chan, well… you know Saeko-san better than I do. And Alice just needs time…"

"Bah… just leave it be. Let's talk about better things." Takashi finally spouted out, before he would think about the matters at hand too much.

"Right, yeah, sure… "

"Remember that game we played in the mall? You still owe me a rematch…"

"Wh-what are you talking about….?!"

"You only won because I was used to the old playstation controllers, not the new ones. " Realizing that he saw Kohta's old school darkened face he knew he had hit the right spot.

"Oh ho ho… is that a challenge?"

"Yeah, we don't have a playstation here however… "

"Oh… yeah that's right…"

"But!" he suddenly replied with a joyous voice.

"Hmm?" Kohta wondered both disappointed and happy at the same time.

"I saw a board game on my way here… we might play it? And make it count as a rematch."

"A board game…?" Kohta replied. Wondering if he liked that answer, or hated it.

"Yeah, it's called Risk. You know it?"

"Risk?!"Within the blink of an eye Kohta's mood was as good as humanly possible. "I always played that with my father!"

"Haha, well that's that then. Now if you don't mind me… I'll close my eyes for a bit." He once again closed both eyes and when he heard Kohta laying back as well he smiled.

Finally… rest.

**The girl's bathing place. **

"There you go, Saya." Rei spoke as helped Saya get rid of her blouse.

"Thanks… Gah, these bandages are so restraining!" The genius muttered whilst unclipping her bra with her spare hand. Shizuka had done a good job at completely packing in her wounded arm, forcing her to make due with a mere one arm.

"Hehe… yeah. Must be really crappy." The red head replied with a soft smile, as she as well started unbuttoning and unzipping her clothes.

Luckily for the females of the group, Shizuka had taken precautions and thus the bath was already warmed. In fact, there was a vague damp coming from the hot water, filling the room with a slight mist.

As Rei made her way to the hot water she noticed all too well how good every step felt. Walking on the concrete, all packed up, with danger around every corner? No… that certainly wasn't good for her body. The hot tiles felt as a blessing on her tender feet. Having no clothes around her felt better than ever before, and with jiggling breasts and shaking hips she released the biggest, loudest and most satisfied yawn ever as she lowered herself in the bath.

"This is sooooo! Goood! Ahhh…." As she watched Saya getting in the pool, quite clumsily I might add, the girl was immediately offering help. Rei wasn't sure why, but her brain was in a mood to help people today. "Need a hand?"

"No! I'm fine…. Sjees…" Upon touching the water the pink haired girl had the exact same reaction, completely forgetting about her bandages she lowered herself in the water. Feeling her every muscle relax she felt the exhaustion upon her body. And boy, was there an exhaustion… "Hmmm… It's a good thing these are old fashioned bathing tubs. Just imagine that these would be cold… Brr…"

"No I'd really rather not." Rei whispered back as she felt Saya's feet rubbing against her own. "Hmmm, Saya?"

"What is it?" The bandaged girl replied on a rather annoyed tone. She was being bothered whilst trying to sleep. That was never a wise thing to do.

"Seeing that this might be the only time we can completely relax… I don't feel like talking about anything serious. Will you play along with me in that game?"

"yeah sure… I don't feel like talking at all soo… Wh-what are you doing? Rei… Hey! Why so close!" Saya almost felt the urge to crawl away as she felt Rei crawling up to her WAY to close.

"Sooo…. Saya-chan, tell me…" Rei almost closed her eyes and licked her lips softly as she felt some healthy sweat running over her face.

"T-tell you what…?"

"About you, and Kohta?" Rei poked Saya's side and giggled when she jumped up and clearly felt uncomfortable.

"Tsk… there is nothing?" Saya replied harshly, as she was well rubbed some of the sweat from her reddening forehead.

"No, nothing at all? Then what did you two do in the time you have been alone?"

"We haven't really been alone… Besid…"

"Well, that's a lie… Come on Saya! Tell me."

"Why are you interested?! Bah, Miyamoto… cut it out!" When she felt the girl backing off a bit and sitting against the side of the tub again Saya relaxed as well. Gosh… she hated it when the matter of love was being discussed like this. Besides, of all people she could love, they thought she was in Love with that fat geezer? Well… maybe. Maybe a bit. But only a very tiny bit! There was still someone else she liked as well…

The water was swirling around at Rei's actions and the splashing had masked the sounds the other women were making. Apparently Shizuka had taken the liberty of taking a bath as well, leaving the place completely unguarded, and her happy self simply kept talking to the two girls with her.

"Come on Saeko-chan! Even girls like you need a bath!" The sounds of clothes being torn off filled the room and a few soft grunts and objections were hearable as well.

"Hup hup! Faster! Alice-chan, you too!" The blonde kept giggling as she was apparently pushing two others towards the water. Rei and Saya could vaguely see them in the now thickening mist and even the two of them, couldn't help but to share a giggle at the sight.

"Come! Faster!" The blondine once against repeated.

"B-but I…."

"Not butts or butts! Besides, yours looks just fine! " Being way too proud about herself being the leader figure the blonde jumped into the water and immediately let out the biggest and loudest moan of relaxation. Seeing that Alice and Saeko were being as slow as they could be the nurse got actually quite annoyed. Nevertheless, she kept her calm, like always, and simply closed her eyes. Once she heard the sound of another pair of feet touching the water she smirked.

_This isn't the time for this… _ Busujima told herself. And she would have kept telling herself that if it weren't for the fact that the others had already decided that this would be a no warzone.

Quickly after the indigo girl, little Alice followed. Not much was said at start, nor did they really wash themselves. The steam was thickening and their exhaustion had finally taken the better of them. It was Rei whom broke the ice when she heard that one of the girls was washing herself. When she opened her heavy eyes and saw that it was Saeko she felt, for once, no anger. No, instead of anger she felt trust. Why? She had no reason to trust Saeko, and Saeko had no reason to trust her. Even still, it was a good change from the normal anger.

"Senpai, are you okay?" The redhead finally asked as she as well poured some water over her face and let her hand rub the rest of her body clean. Upon noticing the samurai's confused look at her concern she almost got mad again. But instead she asked it again.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah…"

For a moment the two girls had locked eyes and both of them felt that there was being created something amongst them. Yet both of them shrugged it off as yet another increase of hate.

"Of course she's fine! This is sooo relaxing." Shizuka added. And was followed by an approving Saya whom nodded as well.

"And you, Alice-chan?" Rei asked with a kind voice, but instead of Alice it was Saya whom replied.

"Why are you so nice out of the sudden?" The genius wasn't annoyed or anything, she was simply wondering.

"Just trying to start a conversation actually."

Just as Rei had spoken these words she felt an enormous amount of water being splashed right in her face. At first it blinded her, then when the laughter followed she grinned, and she did so with the most evil and sinister smile she had ever had.

"All right… who did that…"

The answer was more than obvious. As it was the blonde whom had her long leg out of the water and once again repeated the movement. Causing yet another tidal wave to splash right into the face Saya this time. The latter whom didn't really like that, as she was trying hard to close her eyes for a bit.

"Can't you two cut it out for a bit? Sheesh…" She hadn't spoken these words or her vision was blurred by one girl jumping towards the older woman whom shared the bath with them. After the jump followed giggles, after the giggles came screams. Then came more splashing, followed by yet another scream. Yet the last yell was different, it sounded more like surprise and pleasure than fun. As Saya's stern eyes moved towards the drama she saw that scene which was all too familiar…

"Rei let go!"

"Stop splashing then!"

"Never! Aahh!" Upon her denial to give in she felt her ample womanly big parts that were located on her chest and were unbelievably big if you'd ask the girl whom was squeezing them, being squeezed harder.

"What was that?!" The red head was still in awe in fact. Maybe even jealous. How in the hell did hers get so big? She almost felt small in comparison.

"Cut it out you two! I'm trying to relax!"' Saya muttered again, before finally giving up. The sounds of the two girls wasn't that bad after all. At first it had sounded kind of erotic, but later on when Saya had given it a thought. She figured it was something a tad more saddening…

Rei missed her mother. Dreadfully so. Her dad was dead, and so was about everything else she used to care about, Her mother was the last thing she could cling on to.

And for that reason alone, the pink haired higschool girl decided that she would let the two have their fun. Even if that fun included groping each other intensively all the time.

What Saya didn't notice however, was the fact that the entire time they would be in bath, neither Saeko nor Alice spoke a single word.

Were they broken?

**Thirty minutes later, in the main hall.**

"Are you sure you still want to play Takashi… you seem rather tired…" Kohta asked worried as he saw his young leader yawning whilst opening the red and blue box.

"Yeah… it's not as if I can sleep, knowing that my mother is still out there." Not sure why, but Takashi found himself telling that lie easier and easier every time it left his mouth.

"Fair enough… but don't expect me to go easy on you." The smaller of the two boys was actually pretty excited. Sure, he preferred video games. And sure, he wished he could play something digital. But since those hopes had long since disappeared, he had mentally prepared himself to like board games.

"Hehe… it'd be no fun if you did." He grabbed the board from the box and unfolded it on the aluminum table on his right. "Right… I'll be … uhm…."

"I'll be black." Kohta interrupted whilst his hands immediately went for the black units.

"I'll be green then… " Not sure why, but he simply felt like playing that neutral color.

"Okay."

As Takashi looked at his opponent he coughed and sighed. "Right, let's start."

"Yosh!"

**Somewhere outside.**

"Let's start this! GO GO GO!"

"Follow him! HURRY UP ALREADY!"

**Back in the port house.**

As Takashi was shuffling the cards he was surprised to hear some girly moaning coming from the hallway.

"Bah…looks like we won't have a calm game haha." He joked as he realized the girls were coming back. He was glad to see the group together again, but he wasn't particularly happy about the questions that might be thrown at him. As he looked at Kohta he only saw some relaxation in his face. It was a pleasant thing to see his friend being happy. It automatically got his brain off his own grim thoughts.

As the female members were approaching he could immediately see that they had, once again, a new wardrobe. Come to think of it, he himself had a slight change in attire as well. Instead of his Colbert and red singlet, he had obtained himself a simple black pull over. He had worn something like this before, back in the Takagi manor. Still wearing his black uniform pants, he actually eyed quite dark as it was. Luckily for him, he was still the same kid as ever.

Saya was the first one to rejoin the group. She still wore the same hot pants as before, but instead of a blouse she had grabbed herself a big fuzzy black and white striped winter sweater. It might not have been the most beautiful piece of attire, but it came in handy with her injured arm.

"What are you two doing?' The girl immediately asked as she grabbed herself a seat right in between the two guys. Frankly enough she seemed quite amused by the sight of the board game."Ah… Risk. That brings back some memories."

Upon hearing this, Kohta was itching to ask her to join. Sadly however, or lucky, Saya already invited herself."Seeing that you've not yet started, I'll play along."

"Erherm… sure, good!" Kohta stuttered out. Takashi only sighed, seeing that he had to shuffle again.

After beginning to give each player his or her correct cards he once again announced the start of the game.

"Right… anymore going to join us?"

**Somewhere outside.**

"Shit… will there be any more of them to join this fight? They are fucking without end."

"Piece of shit, STAY DOWN!"

**Back in the port house.**

We'll play as well, Takashi-kun!" The stalwart Shizuka pronounced as she and Rei joined the table as well.

"B-but I just…"

"I'll be yellow! " The nurse spoke as her hand went for the yellow figures. "I used to play this with Rika a lot! I never won though… hmm… I still wonder why…"

I'll be red then!" Rei yelled out happily, as she as well took a chair and sat down left to Takashi, and right from Shizuka.

The young boy grumbled a bit, when he once again took all the cards and began shuffling again. He didn't mind that Shizuka was wearing nothing but boxers and a blouse with the last few buttons loose. Neither did he bother with Rei's pink and white striped sweater combined with a dark pair of shorts.

Sure, he had to hide his excitement at the somewhat revealing clothing, but he just wanted to play a game for goodness sake.

"Can we start now?!"

**Outside.**

"Can we carry on now?!"

"One moment, … two of us are still behind."

"You two! Hurry the fuck up!"

"Calm down… his leg is hurt…"

**In the port house.**

"Saeko-san, will you play as well?" Kohta asked as he saw the girl standing behind them whilst she was rubbing her tired eyes.

"I… don't know that game."

"It's not that hard! Just join us!"

"I… don't feel like it." The girl replied. But she hadn't spoken these words or her arm was being pulled towards the nearest chair. She looked to her side and was surprised that it was Takashi whom pulled her in a chair to the left of him, in-between Saya and himself. He apparently liked her red basketball singlet for his eyes trailed off. For the rest she still wore her standard skirt, which she simply couldn't leave behind anymore. Why? No reason in particular. Just a keepsake probably.

Upon being forced in the chair she immediately got the purple models thrown to her side of the table.

"but I…"

"Oh shush it! You and Alice will be the purple soldiers!" Saya remarked. Slightly annoyed as she as well wanted the game to begin. Little Alice however didn't feel anything for being with Saeko at the moment. Yet nevertheless, she took a chair and sat next to the girl on Saya's side.

"Good… now we're all here… If you'd excuse me, I need to beat Kohta." Takashi muttered as he, for the last time, began shuffling and spreading the cards.

They all set down their figures on the corresponding countries and threw a dice as to whom would start.

Rei with the red soldiers would go first. Would the red fire win the struggle between green and

purple? Seeing that her forces were concentrated on their flanks.

Takashi would go second with his green armies. Would the neutral color remain neutral, or would it succumb to the combined powers of all the others? Seeing that he started with a good central control, he would most definitely be feeling the hits from every other player. Yet he would be the strongest if he teamed up with purple to protect his most vulnerable parts.

Saeko and her battalion of purple figures had most countries of Asia. Seeing that she had Japan and didn't know the game, the girl blatantly threw most of her forces on that country, only to be reminded to protect her borders by a wary Kohta. The girl had to fight for Asia, the biggest and most hard to get continent of them all. To her right she had the green forces, with whom she should form an alliance to win. Or… she could simply steam roll him if she'd like to. Yet seeing that Red was in a good position to team up with Green as well… she really had to play her cars right.

After Saeko came Saya. Her blue troopers were literally spread all over the map. Yet she liked this. Being ignored by everyone she would be able to team up with whomever she liked. And, of course, destroy whomever she liked. All she had to do was make the right allies in order to be ignored, and thus win the game.

After Saya came Kohta. The black figures in this box had never before been so eager to start. With a good southern and western position the boy was well able to form a base of operations from where he could observe the game from a distance. Right from his units was the fight between red, purple and green. And above him was the threat of yellow. Yet, there was one thing destroying his master plan. And that one thing were the few countires that were controlled by blue. Literally in the center of his domain, Saya had two countries as well.

Last but not least, it was Shizuka's turn. Due to some miracle she had managed to get every single country in Northern America, besides Greenland. She was eager to prove herself a smart and an able tactician. Nobody was directly threatening her, and neither was she directly threatening anybody else. Whilst green was the neutral colour, she had the neutral position.

"Right, let's start then. I'll place some reinforcements!" Rei began. Not knowing that somewhere close from the port there was being fought for survival.

**Outside:**

"Where is our back up?! Why aren't those bloody fools here yet?!" An angry voice echoed through the streets whilst waiting to unload yet another magazine in the hordes of them.

**Inside:**

After a few turns the game already began to take on a certain shape.

"Oh come on… three sixes in a row? …" Takashi mumbled quite softly as the blonde had indeed resisted his attack by throwing triple six.

"Hehe, don't underestimate good fortune!"

**Outside:**

"SHIT that was close!" A female voice yelled as she was barely able to side step.

"I saw that… damn, that wasn't the first time you have been lucky." A male voice replied.

**Inside again:**

"Ha! That's that! That location is all mine now!" Kohta spouted out happily as he had obtained all of southern America.

"Huh? Where did all my guys go?!" Shizuka replied in awe.

**Outside:**

"Good good good! We have the first checkpoint! Where is Miyuzaki?!" A heavy male voice spoke.

"We don't know… a lot of our guys suddenly dissa-dissapeared. " Was replied on a sad tone.

"For fucks sake… FOR FUCKS SAKE! Not another one… FUCK THIS SHIT! RUN!"

**Inside: **

"My turn… Ah… Uhm, can I do this?" Saeko asked with a bit of resentment. She hated being the only one without a clue of what she was doing.

"Yeah, of course you can." The rest replied in chorus.

**Outside: **

"Lee…. Lee I'm sorry. "

"It's all right, you have to do what you have to do right?" The man named Lee acted brave as he laid on the ground. His lungs were aching and his entire vision was blurry beyond hell. He really tried not to cry, but not long after the tears began rolling.

"C-can… I do this?'

"Of course you can… If anyone can, it's you… Now, take this gun and do it… I want you to survive."

**Inside:**

The group was well underway with their game when the exhaustion finally got the better one of them once again.

The winner was obvious, as black units were spread well over a quarter of the map whilst the others were still struggling to establish any sort of foothold.

"Well… It seems like my last move will b…" Takashi's head jumped up as he seemed to hear gunshots in the far away distance. His worries were confirmed by the others, as they as well sharpened their ears.

"Was that what I think it was…" Saya sighed out. Standing up from her chair, she and the rest made their way towards the barricaded doors.

"It's coming closer…"Takashi spoke softly.

"Might they be coming…" Rei stopped her whispering as she noticed that the gunshots were indeed coming closer.

"Everyone! Get back and get your weapons! NOW!" Takashi suddenly yelled. Without a second of hesitation everyone went for their weapons.

The chaos inside of the port house was quite hectic. There was no reason for panic yet, but if gun blazing idiots would come here they would have to be able to defend themselves. Immediately they dampened the light and made some last preparations. As unprepared as they had been before, so prepared they were now. Making their ways to certain dark spots in the room they waited.

The shots were coming closer. They heard voices now as well, or at least they thought they did.

Rei stood with Kohta and Saya in the far end of the room. Aiming their guns at the entrance, they would have perfect sight over the entire room, as well as having some decent cover behind the metal doors leading to the toilets.

Shizuka had hidden with Alice in the far left corner, where it was pitch black. They had some melee weapons, but if even a single man with a gun would see them, it was over.

This happened all the while Saeko and Takashi made their way towards the front door. It opened to the inside and they would have a chance to jump the intruders from both sides. Yet before separating they had one last word.

"Quick, Saeko, are you ready?" Takashi spoke as he regained his breath whilst leaning against the wall.

"Y…yeah." She replied softly. And upon hearing the regret in her voice he simply knew he had to speak up right now. If he didn't do it, and she lost it in the ambush, they could all Die. Takashi ran to her side and out of the blue pushed the girl against the wall quite forcefully.

"Taka…?!" The girl was muffled when Takashi placed his hand on her lips. She saw the anger in his eyes, but there was also the sight to which she was starting to rely. The shine of love, was still in his pupils. It wasn't as clear as it had been before, but it definitely was still there.

"Quiet and listen!" He increased the force with which he pushed his girlfriend against the wall. "I don't care what you thought back then! I don't care why you killed my mother! I will forgive you for your thoughts! I will even forgive you for murdering her! I will forgive you for everything you will ever do, I promised that! But I can't do that now! Right now I'm mad at you, furious even." For a moment he stopped talking. He removed his hand from her mouth and placed it on her right hand.

"Saeko-san, I love you. I love you more than anything, But right now I can't have you like this!"He placed her right hand on her katana's hilt and blinked his eyes, trying desperately to hold back his tears of anger and sorrow. His entire body was in a duel with itself. Should he avenge his mother, or should he side with Saeko?

"Takashi I… I… Hmph." Once again her head was bumped against the wall. But this time not by a hand, no… this time it was by lips. Once again feeling his mouth on her did not only revive her spirit, but it also made her forget today's events for a bit. He really did forgive her then?

The kiss wasn't long. In fact, Saeko didn't even have the time to respond to it. Takashi took a step backwards and started walking to the other side of the door.

The gunshots and voices were clearly hearable by now. Though it didn't appear to be bandits, they still didn't trust it. The voices sounded violent…

"Saeko-san… We'll continue this conversation later. Right now… we have to be silent, and act as if we are dead to each other."

_Right! A bad chapter? I DON'T CARE! long chapter? I DON'T CARE! This wasn't as good as the others? I DON'T CARE! _

_I had fun writing this and that's all I have to say. I didn't feel like putting too much drama in it, which I did not. From now on chapters will be shorter, better and more useful again. But I simply really felt like writing what I did._

_It seems like every time I do that, my worst chapters are uploaded xD. I just shouldn't write what I feel anymore! Haha xD._

_Thanks for reading it anyway! Love y'all._

_Oh and please review. Especially this chapter. It was long, and maybe even a bit boring and out of character. But that was the point. _

_I tried to make this be a bit… regular? We';ve barely seen our heroes being normal. I think it would be like this. _

_Yamucha-san._


	7. Mercury for the dead

_Right, nothing to say in this pre text. Just try and enjoy my writing! Love you all… wait? _

_Oh wait, I do have something to say now. Sorry for the wait! But I was re-reading everything I have written before. And I came to the conclusion that I miss certain things…_

_I miss the innocence. And I miss the flirting of Saeko And Takashi. I want that again! You know? To write some flirt scenes? Just something new._

_As for this chapter. It is gloomy and it made me moody. But the sun will start shining again in the next one. I hope._

_I do not own highschool of the dead, all rights belong to its original author and animators._

**Act 7: Mercury for the dead.**

The main door was kicked open and through that very entrance came an orgy of death and despair. Guns were blazing and people were crying. Being overcome by fear and exhaustion a few members of the group that had entered the main port building had immediately dropped their guard and simply fell on the ground. After the last few shots were fired the door was shut with an extremely large –bang-.

A silence overcame the room. All sound which remained were the sounds of dehydrated throats and panting lungs. The members were exhausted and the thought of having escaped the danger would soon fade away, as yet another surprise would greet them inside of this more than cozy building. Before any of them could even catch their breath one of the members, most likely a leading figure, was already busy with trying to regain the morale of the group.

"Come on! We've done a great job so far, we can't rest just yet however! Barricade that door and make sure that there's nothing inside of here!"

The male voice sounded firm and honest. Takashi, whom was still standing in the darkness behind the door, listened with great interest. _Is this how a leader needs to act? _ It was a miracle that he hadn't been spotted yet, and the sweat on his forehead didn't hide his fear of being seen before having any chance to set an ambush. The group of strangers counted seven people, yet there was no child amongst them. So it would practically be seven against six. Or maybe even five, if one doesn't count Shizuka.

_Great… what now… Sigh, it's now or never… _ Takashi thought. He knew everyone would wait for his move. He had to wait for a moment where all of them would be silent, for he didn't want to risk being the only one to charge at the enemy.

Somehow one of them appeared to have a working flashlight and that thing almost shed its light right in his face. But even if that would have happened, the odds were small that they would notice him. Each member of the invading group was exhausted and thus they were probably suffering from blurry vision.

What was remarkable for Takashi, before he rushed forwards, was the diversity of languages he was hearing. Some voices sounded more adult, and others were more youthful. Could it be that these were tourists?

"It's now or never…" He whispered as softly as he could. What bugged his mind was the thought of Saeko. Would she be able to control herself if the ambush would go amiss? Realizing all too well that this wasn't the time for those thoughts he took one last big gasp of air and tensed his already aching muscles.

Time seemed to stop for Takashi as soon as he raised his voice. He made sure the shotgun was ready to go and when he was about to take the first step he stopped. Something made him stop. It wasn't anything physical, nor was it something that was real. No, the thing that had made him quit is charge was his very own mind. Not because he didn't know this was the safest. Neither because he had shown the urge to use violence before. No, it was a voice that stopped him. Somebody of the new group was crying out in an utopia of sadness. He knew that sound all too well…

The woman had lost somebody close to her.

Rei had made that sound when her father was butchered by Takashi's very own girlfriend. Though that kill was unavoidable.

Yet he also knew how it felt when such a sound would emit from his own body. And to hear it again was terrifying.

"No… these people aren't hostile…"' The boy whispered to himself. He once again tried to aim his gun, since he didn't want to take a risk this big. Yet when he tried to lift his arms, his muscles failed him. He simply couldn't do it… He hadn't sunken far enough to be able to aim at innocent people.

Instead of triggering the ambush, he holstered the gun on his back, mustered his social courage, coughed and walked forwards into the moon light.

He noticed all too well that he was getting strange stares as the newcomers were trying to figure out whether Takashi was new, or they were simply confusing him with somebody. He heard some whispers coming from the battered survivors. Also he figured he heard some complaints coming from all ends of the room. Whatever they thought of his action, his own group wasn't happy with it.

As his figure entered the faint light of the flashlight which was now placed on the ground, as the woman whom was wielding it had taken it upon herself to take care of the broken member of the group.

Nevertheless, it was now that a voice was directed at him.

"Oi, you! Get back! Who are you?!" It was the same voice which had appeared to have been leading the group before. Takashi's head turned to face the sound and when the yelling male entered the light as well he was both happy and shocked. His face was covered in red smut. Whether it was blood or simply dust he didn't know. Most likely it was a combination.

Nevertheless, the guy was wearing some black jeans with some (former) bright white sneakers underneath. Although dirty with blood and mud, the shoes were of obvious quality. To protect himself against the cold he wore a black hoodie with rolled up sleeves. A white shirt underneath which seemed to be clinging rather close to his body, implying the obvious presence of muscles on the guy.

The thing which hit Takashi as the most weird was his face. Not his military cut or slight stubbles. No, it were those damned eyes. They were grey, at least that's what was stated on his ID. Yet in this faint light they appeared to be completely white. Was it that strange that it send a soft chill down Takashi's spine? It was quite reminiscent to the eyes of the hordes of them.

"Put away that weapon right now!" The guy yelled once again. The young brown haired leader didn't really know what to do. He already had his weapon on his back wasn't it? His bat he had indeed in his hand… thus he decided to drop it on the ground, as a sign of no ill-will.

"I'm not an enemy. " He replied on a soft yet firm tone. The other guy, whom was slightly taller than him seemed to doubt his words, for his eyebrows remained straight. Yet his arms relaxed a little.

"It seems you are in need of help." Takashi spoke, trying to take the initiative in this conversation. His face made an obvious gesture towards the screaming woman on the ground. Takashi only just now noticed that the female was in an officer uniform.

"What do you know?" The stranger was in an obvious hurry. He saw all too well that his compatriot was in need of help. And then, out of the blue, there was this boy, offering help? Was that even normal in this world nowadays.

"We have a nurse…" Without waiting for an answer, and not even knowing why he was offering help in the first place he made an obvious sigh towards where he had last seen Shizuka. Not sure whether she saw him or not, he once again guided his attention towards the stranger in front of him. As he turned to face him again, a second person had joined him.

Although the latter's appearance was a whole lot less intimidating, his eyes felt as if they were slowly drilling their ways through his eye sockets towards the end of his skull.

He appeared rather normal, maybe even quite similar to Takashi. Brown eyes, brown hair ( albeit quite a bit shorter.) and was a mere few centimeters taller than him. When the guy spoke he immediately noticed a heavy accent. This guy wasn't Japanese, and now that he realized it, he figured the other guy wasn't Japanese either. Were they really tourists then?

"Who the hell are you?" The smaller of the two spoke on a offensive tone.

Takashi felt extremely calm, and he did not know why. Calm and… uncomfortable. Maybe he should have just ambushed them, then he would have had the initiative at least.

"I'm Kumoro Takashi, though I doubt this is the time." By the time he answered he heard soft footsteps coming from behind him. Judging by the irregularity of those very steps he immediately recognized them as Shizuka's. When he felt a soft hand on his head and the all too familiar sounds of not knowing what to do, he knew for certain it was Shizuka at his back. He saw all too well how the eyes of both young gentlemen in front of him opened widely for a bit, yet this was neither the place nor the time to be admiring boobies.

"T-Takashi.. What are you doing? Why are y…" Her eyes hit their mark as she saw the moaning and groaning woman laying on the floor. One of the strangers was desperately trying to aid the officer, but upon seeing her incompetence Shizuka merely groaned.

"This is our nurse… now put down your own weapons and let us talk. We're all in this together anyways…" He had no clue as there where he got those words from. The last thing he wanted was yet another combination of groups.

The eyes of the two were talking without words. And when the taller, more muscular and most likely older member of the group lowered his aggressive stance, the other guy quickly followed. Yet the brown haired stranger still kept his switchblade in his hand. Playing with it like a child would with a new toy, he kept up a sinister grin all the while Takashi watched as Shizuka went to her business with the unknown officer, and the rest of his group appeared to be coming out of cover as well. He saw the shades of Rei, Kohta and Saya coming from the far end of the room. Apparently Alice had joined the threesome, as she was clinging tightly to Kohta's leg. The latter whom found it rather difficult to walk because of it.

Takashi's mind immediately went to Saeko, and as he saw her coming from behind the door he sighed of relief. Thank God she had stayed put and retained her sane self. Yet the happiness he had shown at his first glimpse, quickly altered in the anger which he was trying all too hard to suppress. He was, quite obviously, still furious at the girl. Both furiously mad, and furiously in love.

What did bug him mostly at this point however, was the fact that four more members of the strangers were still panicking to barricade the windows and door. If anything, they should be looking after their injured friend now.

The silence they were in now must have been the most awkward silence they had ever been in. And most likely there would never ever, not even in the far away future, be a silence which was as awkward as this one.

All of the people in the room simply formed a very loose circle and watched Shizuka go about her business. She had informed the girl next to her on what to do, and she seemed to catch up quickly. Despite the darkness, Takashi could very well make up the shape of a young girl, most likely not even sixteen years old. Whatever her age was, she must be a tough girl in order to survive up until now.

It was a weird situation they found themselves in. Although the original seven didn't know the strange sevent at all, they still formed a rather loose circle and appeared to be equally worried about the well being of the officer.

Saeko felt the need to stay back in the shadow. She wasn't shy, no she was sly. There were a bunch of strangers whom had just entered her den, and those very lions acted way too nice for her liking. She took a few steps forwards and up until now only Takashi had noticed her coming from the shadow.

Upon hearing the voices of a suffering woman, and upon seeing the fragile body laying on the ground she shivered. It reminded her of her own weakness back in the mall. She had been unable to defend anyone at that point, and had even ended up with killing Rei's father. Even whilst he had become one of them, she could have been there to protect everyone… but then again. Why would she want to protect Rei?

The indigo haired girl took another few steps forwards until she stood a few meters behind Takashi. As if he could hear her steps, or smell her scent he immediately looked her way. His face eyed emotionless, and was rather unlike Takashi. Nevertheless he managed to crack a soft smile and gestured for Saeko to join him.

Upon seeing his lips curl and his hands gesturing at her she felt slightly human again for a short while. That feeling immediately dispersed from her enigmatic appearance as she saw the twitching female on the ground. It was dark, too dark to properly see. The flashlight was now in the hands of the girl whom had been helping the officer from the start, but since she was shining it on the floor, everything around it quickly became a black abyss. Busujima saw Shizuka doing her thing and, like the rest, was surprised to see panic upon her face. Sure, she had panicked tens if not hundreds of times, but that could be thrown away as simply-panic-. This time it was different, this time it was anger.

It was at this point that Saeko knew that the woman wasn't going to make it. She didn't even see nor wanted to know what injuries the policewoman had, but she was convinced of the fact that she was not going to make it. Nothing else would cause this grim face on their naïve and somewhat dumb nurse. Although in Saeko's eyes, Shizuka had long since earned a promotion to a full fletched doctor.

The pale girl was shaken awake by a soft yet fierce whisper coming from Takashi, and was finally able to take a few steps to join his side. Her eyes went for the two individuals that were standing besides Takashi, albeit slightly further towards the spectacle.

Saeko could make up two figures, the one being taller than the other. Though it was the mere shade of the back of a head, it had something about it which she found to be…familiar. Maybe it was just that an uncle of hers was bold as well? Nevertheless, upon reaching Takashi she could do nothing less than to feel uncomfortable. And she would keep feeling this way until they would have had a decent conversation.

Him grabbing her hand was something which caught her off guard even more. She saw the anger in his eyes and it clearly hadn't subsided. Was her leader really that mentally stable to be able to set aside his anger like that? Had he already forgiven her? Or was he simply acting out of instinct. Nevertheless, upon feeling his warm, sturdy and somewhat damp hand she automatically blushed. Not only on her checks, but her eyes turned away and her entire body hampered for a bit. T'was because of things like that that she kept on escaping the darkness of her inner self. Greedily accepting his hand she squeezed it quite hard, but she didn't seem to hurt him at all.

Words wanted to escape her faintly pink lips, but the girl knew that they were trapped in a silence which not even the heavens themselves would dare to interrupt. Why were they all staring at this event anyways? It wasn't a circus, but they damn well acted like that.

Whatever would happen, for now she was happy enough to be holding his hand. It gave her the slightest bit of hope that is wasn't over yet.

All the while Saeko was thinking about her and Takashi, the treatment on the ground began to come to an end.

The grunting and moaning coming from the by now pale agent had almost stopped. And as soon as Shizuka let loose of the wound, the remaining blood simply flowed out with the greatest of ease and with all the time in the world.

As more of the life liquid left her body, the less tense her worries got. The officer, by the name of Kamijo Ayaka had been the proud mother of four children. Married a sweet husband whom worked in the undergrounds of the city as a railroad worker. She aced her elementary school as well as highschool. Wanting to protect the citizenry of Japan Akaya joined the force. Having solved four cases of murder, ten cases of domestic violence and she had managed to rescue more than twenty kittens from the trees.

She was a woman to be remember, yet nobody safe for her group would do so. Her children had all died whilst escaping the hordes of them and her husband had committed suicide not long after that. Still carrying on with her duty she got bitten protecting her companions, saving the lives of both boys whom were silently standing in the background, holding back tears of sorrow.

May we all die like this proud woman.

Kamijo Akaya, rest in peace.

A lot of soft sniffs came from all over the room. The blonde nurse rubbed her eyes before eventually sneezing, almost tripping and slipping, and rejoining her group. Obviously, team Team Takashi wasn't as badly hit as the rest, but it would never be an easy sight to see a person die slowly in front of you.

At this point people started to either move away from the centre, or move towards it. Rei, Kohta and Saya formed a group, whilst Alice had found comfort in sitting on Shizuka's lap. This team's leader wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep for a bit, but he could not do so just yet. The entire room turned black as the flashlight was put off. Some moonlight shone thought the glass of the windows, but everyone's eyes still had to adjust to the darkness.

Takashi turned his face to his left to look at the girl he was standing hand to hand with. The moonlight lightened her already pale face, but the thing which dumb struck him were her eyes. They glittered and sparkled like a oceanic blue disco ball because of the reflecting moon light. Those eyes made him forget, and they made him remember. He finally replied to her hand squeeze and replied with the same force. Not noticing he was slightly stronger he literally scraped her finger bones over his own. It was a good thing it was a Busujima whom was standing next to her, for any other person would squeal in pain, For Takashi was by all means not a weak guy.

"Saeko-san… do you have a minute?" The boy figured that now it was as good a time as any to talk. In fact, he didn't feel angry at all. Maybe it was just because he was tired and feeling down because of the new lings. Maybe it would actually be better to acquaint himself with the name group before blindly sharing this little piece of heaven with them. Not just maybe… it would be better. Yet Takashi didn't feel like it, and most likely nobody felt like getting to know each other. Everyone just wanted to get some rest and call it a day. Getting to know each other would be a thing for tomorrow.

Before she answered he heard a male voice coming from one of the windows, warning them about a few stragglers that had followed them. But apparently it was nothing to worry about. Upon hearing his girlfriend clearing her throat to reply he focused completely. Why? He had nothing else to do anyways.

"Y-yeah… sure. Let's talk over there." Saeko spoke as she pointed her hand to the far left corner, which had some sort of old lobby couch covered up. She already made the gesture to walk towards the place before a loud voice yelled through the room. This time is was a female voice.

"More of them are coming! We can't stay here Anton-san!" The woman yelled. She didn't get any replies, safe for exhausted grunts and annoyed groans.

"We can… at least for a day. Just try and get some rest, Kaori-kun." The guy whom Takashi saw as the leader eventually replied. He saw the two standing in the window by the moonlight and actually thought of some sort of romantic scenario, but that thought was quickly pierced when the woman seemed to gnarl at the guy as she stampeded away. Could it be th…

His chain of thoughts was interrupted as he got a soft and impatient pull on his arm.

"Right… yes, Sorry."

The duo made their way to the comfortable privacy in the darkness and set down.

Saeko was the first one to be there and she let her featherweight body rest on the dark blue couch. Soon after followed Takashi, whom sat down on the same couch. The boy sat a mere twenty centimeters away, but in Saeko's eyes that was an annoying distance. She feared for her relationship with the guy she loved. Not even because of the fact that she loved him, but because of the fact that she did not want to lose somebody due to her own psychotic behavior.

"I think we both know where this conversation is going, no?" He began as he nervously twitched his leg up and down. It had been a long time since he had been with Saeko alone, last time had been in the house after the mall. Had they still been there… all of this would not have happened. He laid down a bit and inhaled quite a bit of air. Coughing softly afterwards be was still awaiting some sort of answer.

"Yes, I suppose." Saeko replied. She had placed her hands on her lap rather neatly whilst staring at the black floor in front of her. As soon as her head would move she would stare in the dark of the nearby hallway. "Fifth door on the right…" She suddenly spoke, not completely realizing Takashi was sitting right next to her.

"Hmm, what?" He asked, not quite sure if he had understood that right.

"UHm… Ugh, never mind. Kumoro-kun… I…" Within the blink of an eye her trance had shifted to a worried personality. Not quite sure what to say she simply stuttered out some words in the hopes of him continuing the conversation.

"*sigh*… You're feeling guilty right?" He asked, knowing all too well how she felt, seeing that her hands were shivering and her eyes twitching. He also noticed that as soon as he had asked his question she seemed to roll her eyes and frown.

"Y-yes… of course I do. I can apo…"

"You know…" He interrupted her. Remember very well how much she hated that. "… I have been thinking about it for a last few minutes. And…"

"And what?" She replied, breaking up his sentence at her turn. Yet she did not seem to joke about her words. Expecting him to tell her she would have to apologize, she continued on and took the lead of this talk.

"Look, Kumoro. I… I lost myself. I lost myself completely, and it scares me. Being at this place makes me fragile, yet what worries me most. Is that I don't regret the deed…" She looked at Takashi whilst speaking her last words. Seeing him clench his fists at her words she acted quickly, placing her hand on his hand whilst carrying on with her talking.

"I regret what I did to you, and what's even worse is what it did to Alice-chan. And do not get me wrong, I wish with my entire soul that I could rewind today… Rewind it and not go out there. But it has happened… I… I…" This time it was she whom almost lost it, and thus she didn't realize his fixed eyes at all. Every word she had spoken went though his ear and was carefully stored in his brain. Not a single syllable went unnoticed. He really hadn't expected her to lead this conversation. No, in his head he had already thought out lots of scenarios, yet those all involved her asking for forgiveness, and him giving it.

And why wasn't he angry anymore? It was because of the new people. Noticing their struggle with their own problems, something inside of simply changed. They weren't the only ones having a difficult time. And if there was anything which would be unfair, it would be him not forgiving somebody for an act that had to be done. If he hadn't been there himself, he might have lost himself and beat the living hell out of his girl. Yet he HAD been there, he saw the pressure, he saw her snap and act. And with that he had also seen his mother's action…

Maybe, if anything would give it a spot in his heart, it would be the thought that that was not his mother. The woman which had raised him had died whilst hiding in her house, praying for her son and husband to come home. The woman that had been butchered by his girlfriend was a stranger, a new one, an introducé with the body of his mother. He had the necklace, and that would remind him of Kumoro Suki.

It was because of this that he had, at least for the time being, genuinely forgiven her. What he didn't know however, was that this deed would act as a parasite in the coming days. But that would be a grudge for another day. For now, he wanted to cheer the indigo haired girl up. Knowing that tomorrow would be a long day in which he would have to get to know the new people, Takashi knew that he would not be able to talk her then. So it had to be done now.

It was a miracle indeed that nobody had yet interrupted them. Rei, Shizuka, or maybe even Kohta or Saya. Every single one of them had simply retreated. Laid their beds together and slept, not caring for the new comers. They were doing their own thing anyways. Resting, sleeping and crying.

All of this, would give Saeko and Takashi, the time they needed to finally be able to simply talk again. "I don't really care about your explanation Saeko-san…" He suddenly spoke, seeing all too well how her eyes suddenly turned to angry oceans. "… I think I already know what you want to say. And you don't have to say it. There's no sorry needed." He tried to crack a smile, but found himself in too much of a serious state to joke around.

"I… wasn't going to…"

"No, you weren't. At least not directly." Takashi shuffled a bit until it was he whom had his hand on hers'. "Saeko… for now. At least for now… let's just forget it? Okay?" His entire soul went out to set things straight. Of course he hadn't completely forgiven her, and most likely he never would. But all he really wanted was peace. They knew by now that their group was at their biggest with seven members, anymore would cause danger. His mother had been no exception. Yet here they were, with a new group that had just entered the building. He hadn't even the time to get to know them or…

"Kumoro-kun?" Saeko suddenly spoke, breaking him out of his thoughts. "You're not really saying what I think you are saying are you?' Not sure why she was angry with his words, she continued with feeling frantic, almost furious even. Was he really just forgiving her? Wasn't that what she had been praying for this entire time? The problem wasn't that however. It was the way he did it. This wasn't the Takashi she knew… or was it? Was she simply expecting too much now? Did she want him to be someone he was not?

"Hmm?' He raised an eyebrow."I am. I don't want to be mad anymore… I just don't…"

"Cut it out… you're making a fool out of me…"

"What?" He asked. Wondering what the hell she was on about. He felt empty at this point. This was most likely the first time ever, he had felt little to no emotions to the girl next to him. Though that feeling was short lived, since as soon as she began speaking again he fell in love again, the feeling had still been there. And Takashi realized all too well it had been there. It had always been there in his mind. First with Rei, then with his crushes on highshcool, and now with Saeko. Was he entering the no-caring part again?

"I've… I have…" She didn't even know whether or not she should be saying her thoughts out loud, yet her lips were moving on their own.

"You have?" He spoke, with a little more interest in his voice this time.

'" I've almost cried … I was afraid." She suddenly look up again, and stared directly into his eyes. What she was doing would be a once in a lifetime.

"Afraid? Of what?" he asked, this time knowing all too well what she was going to say. He saw her eyes widening, and reddening. He hadn't even the time to react or she had thrown her arms around him, digging her head in his neck she seemed to actually be sobbing ever so slightly.

"What do you think baka?!" She threw out rather loudly."I thought you'd leave me… " Was said by her on a suddenly much more soft tone.

AS for Takashi, he didn't really know what to do. He wrapped his own arms around the girl whom had in his eyes as well, suddenly changed personality. "You know I'd never do that. I'd take responsibility right?" Softly patting her back the boy felt different. He had felt like this before though. He didn't really care… just as with Rei.

"Kumo…"

"It's Takashi ,Saeko-san. It is Takashi for you and you know it." Her leader spoke whilst now it was he whom was staring at the dark hallway. Looking up at her boyfriend whilst resting her head on his shoulder she felt different. Her feelings of love had been slightly replaced by feelings of awkwardness… But then again, what if he was actually telling the truth? Out of the sudden she felt an incredible exhaustion conquering her body. Looking up towards Takashi the girl was surprised that he wasn't looking at her. No… he had the very same eyes she had had whilst staring at the abyss of the hallway.

"I know… I'm sorry.. Takashi." She whispered before letting her entire body rest against his shoulder. Feeling his arm wrap around her and pulling her in closer made her feel, however easy it was, good again. With his strength wrapped around her waist she closed her eyes. With his breath being blown on her hair she disappeared from this world. And with a last unknown whisper she fell asleep. Only to wake up again the next morning, with the ecstatic feeling of actually having some energy left.

What she didn't know however was that the guy that held her in his arms was far from falling asleep. His dark eyes looking down at her dark hair, which eyed chaotically black in these early stages of night. His brain went astray with thoughts, both positive ones and negative ones. His hand took a hold of her somewhat slender arms and he squeezed it. But not like before, not like he had done with anyone before. Yet he still felt good doing it. Not too hard, not too soft. But even he, eventually, felt the urge to close his frail and shivering eyes. Nothing thinking about tomorrow, nor about the newcomers. Could they be trusted? Why the hell wasn't he talking with the new people right now? And why wasn't he talking some more with Saeko? And why wasn't he…

He drooled off. Left this world in exchange for a more peaceful one. Hoping that he would find his rest there…. And he did. Just as with Saeko, the rest he had found in this night would feel greater than any sleep he had had before.

All the while the awkward couple was looking for peace and comfort in each other by apologizing without pause, there still was quite a bit or turmoil going on underneath the roof of the building.

Rei had fallen asleep, strangely enough next to the fire on Shizuka's. The latter whom had the burden of having two female heads resting on her already aching legs. Both Alice and Rei had fallen asleep against her. Something which the blonde found to be a good thing. It proved that there still was trust. Yet she didn't know what to do with it really. Thus she decided to rest her elbows on her knees, whilst supporting her head with her hands. Unaware that her female goodness was bungling all over the two innocent faces.

Kohta had gathered the guns, which the girls were all too happy to give away and sat down somewhere behind the nurse. He had gotten himself a white garden chair and simply sat down. At first checking on the weapons, but after a bit he simply lost it and fell asleep. Something which he shouldn't have done, because ten minutes before he had closed his eyes another pink haired girl joined him. Setting up her chair next to his and simply toying a bit with her bandaged arm.

"Tss… it hurts."Her frail and hungry face looked at Kohta. She was jealous of him… why couldn't she have that rest.

"Have a good night… Nerd-kun." The girl spoke, before she as well closed her eyes. Abandoning all worries for the time being.

T'was very unlike team Takashi to let themselves be this vulnerable. It was out of the ordinary even, yet they felt it was the right thing to do. It became clear rather quickly that, if anything, the newcomers weren't hostile.

They were however, bad sleepers, for almost every single one of them was still busy with something.

There were in total six people that were still moving around, or at least not sleeping.

The last member of team Takashi whom was not asleep was their little pet dog Zeke. Not being able to sleep just yet, for it was hungry as hell, the little dog decided to pay the new comers a visit in some vain attempts to fill its stomach. It made its way towards the loudest duo first. Two guys were busy with checking the patchwork that was already in place. Staring out of the windows they seemed to be in some sort of friendly argument. Nevertheless, it got the attention of the dog. Since rule # 624 was, whom makes the loudest noise, has the most food.

"They've followed us…" The taller of the two spoke as the guy hung out of the window, overlooking the area outside the building. It could have been expected, but the sheer amount of them was mind blowing. Luckily for them however, they seemed to have lost track of their pray, and were instead mindlessly slumbering the parking lot and entrance road.

"No shit Sherlock…" the second boy spoke, making a gesture with his hand, pretending as if he was shooting the hordes of them. "And a shitload of them as well I might add…" His voice came across rather nice, yet it hid an humungous amount of sorrow, this guy had probably just lost somebody he cared for a lot. Was it the officer?

"Not just a shitload… a fucking shitload…" The tall guy began scratching his head whilst turning around to lean against the wall."Jesus… who's idea was it again?"

"Hmm?" The second guy frowned.

"Who's idea it was to go to this blasted island…"

"Not this again…" The second guy chuckled softly before he as well left the window and looked across the room. As his eyes noticed the, for him, strangers he gasped and made a gesture to the other guy as well. "What do you think? Hostiles or allies?"

"… Allies obviously. They'd have shot us to smithereens if they were hostile. They had perfect ambush posi…"

"I know I know… but did you see them?"

"Hmm, whatcha mean?"the tall fellow spoke as he joined his friend in staring to the strangers.

"Well, besides their moody aura… " The somewhat smaller guy suddenly changed his attitude as he wrapped his hands together and continued speaking with a smug smile. "But have you seen those chicks?"

"Wait what?" His companion spoke, as he tried to remember the appearances of their soon to be new allies.

"Them boobies… argh, what the hell?" One of them suddenly found some soft teeth pulling their jeans , following by a few innocent squeals. The boy began shaking his leg in an attempt to scare away the dog.

"Shahaha, a dog? Awesome. I remember my own dog back at home…" The second fella spoke on a suddenly much more sad town. The two of them knew all too well that the little thing wanted food. The problem was however, that they themselves were short on nutrition as well, yet with a snoring stomach the guys both threw a small nudge of their crusty bread on the ground.

"There you go boy…" The small guy spoke.

"I already regret it…" Were the last words the dog heard, before sniffling on and moving towards the next two food sources.

These two guys stood for ignorance.

Next up were a guy and a girl, mixed up in some sort of conversation. One of them was the guy with whom Takashi spoke before. Not their leader, but his friend. With him was a girl, she was the one that had been with the dying officer before. The dog even recalled her scent. It was the same. She was her acquaintance… that much was obvious.

The guy that was with her was obviously trying to make her feel better, yet didn't appear to have been having much success.

"Oh come on… Kaname-chan, cheer up already. She doesn't want you to feel like this!"

"Don't patronize me..." The girl replied. It was a miracle that she wasn't crying nor raging. Whatever the reason was, it must have been a good one.

"I'm not trying to be a father to you…" As she spoke he sat on the ground next to her, against a central pillar." I'm just trying to cheer you up you know? "

"Well you suck at it!" She scowled, looking the other way whilst nervously playing with her own fingers.

"Pff hahaha, whatever Kaname-chan." The guy seemed to have something in his hand, but in this dark it was unrecognizable. It appeared to be flickerering, yet a lot of sentimental value literally dripped from it.

"Just… go away…I wish to be alone." The girl spoke, at this point trying to hold back some tears.

"I apologize,… come let us… Wowa?!" The guy nearly jumped from his place as a small fur ball suddenly jumped in his lap, fervently licking his face "Pffffbraaagh what is this?!" He grabbed the little thing in his hands and lift it in the sky.

Noticing that he had gotten the attention of the girl next to him he decided to cuddle the beast, and then passed it on to the girl. "I think It'll like you more. Kaname-chan."

"…" The female stared at the dog, yet no emotion was genuinely shown. "It just wants food… shoo, shoo. Off with you." Strangely enough, the dog listen with soft peeping noises it made its way to the last duo, whom were standing in the dark in the opposite corner of Takashi and Saeko.

"DO you think it was from them?" The girl whom was named Kaname asked.

"No doubt about it… a waste of food in my opinion…"

These two stood for suppression.

In the dark corner of the room the leader of the newcomers stood, with his arms crossed in front of him he looked at the girl whom was leaning against the corner, covering her face with hair.

"Kaori-kun… I…"

"Don't call me kun… it makes me think I'm a boy…" She replied, obviously annoyed.

"You know it can be used for girls as well… stop being childish…"

"Tsk… just leave me alone."

"No. You're angry, and I want to know why." The guy spoke the last line on a firm tone, even taking a step towards the girl whom almost seemed to be trapped in the corner.

"IS IT THAT STRANGE?!" She yelled out, immediately covering her mouth, realizing that there were strangers now. "Is it that strange?!" She repeated, albeit on a softer tone now.

The guy didn't respond, yet instead he walked towards her and stopped a mere ten centimeters in front of the young woman.

"Come on… you know you can talk to me…" He reached for her eyes but was surprised when she smacked his hands away with her own soft and small hands.

"ANTON! I HATE YOU! YOU AND ILYA, JASPER AND SERGIO SHOULD HAVE NEVER COME TO THIS COUNTRY! NEVER!" She hadn't spoken these words or she had pushed the guy aside and ran to the hallways, desperately searching for a place where she could be alone.

As he was left behind he looked at her running away. He wanted to follow but he could not…

"Where did it go wrong… Kaori-kun… Hmm?" As he was being swallowed by sadness he suddenly felt something tickling his shins. "What's this? Hmm, a dog?" he sat down on his knees and inhaled a last time. Trying to forget about the girl he patted the dog, and without thinking about it he gave it his last bit of rice.

"Here you go… I was saving it for her, yet you'll make better use of it…" he stood up, looked at the dog and then at the strangers. "I'm glad you are friendly… I'm not sure if we could have survived yet another wave of hostility… I'll talk to you all tomorrow… As for now, I need to barricade this place. "

He left the dog, seemed to wring away a few tears before he barred the door, and ordered the two guys at the windows to help him.

These last two stood for passionate fire.

Ignorance, suppression and fire. Three key ingredients of the mercury for the dead.

_FINALLY! Haha, I DID IT! Jesus Christ this chapter took long. And it isn't even that good! But I still like the new group._

_I hope you will all like them as well, they'll be introduced next chapter and play a big role before Team Takashi sets of towards the liberty of no-man's land. _

_I want them to be here, because I kind of miss the flirty stuff I had before. This gives me a chance to perfectly re-introduce that aspect for a bit before focusing on the darker streams of HotD again._

_UHm,what's more…_

_UHm._

_I don't know anything really._

_Sorry for the wait, next one will be up sooner._

_Please review, it'd be much appreciated for it makes people write faster._

_Yours sincerel,y_

_Yamucha-san._

_I want an apple now. _


	8. Happy to not yet be dead

_I feel like writing this one! I'm sorry if there ain't much with the official group here, but I want to get you to know and learn the new members so that we can go on with this story. But, I might also be wrong on this and immediately kill them all off. Whatever floats my boat haha._

_I do not own Highschool of the dead, all rights belong to its original author and animators._

_**Act 8: Happy to net yet be dead.**_

"I… Bwoh… everything aches…" A certain guy complained to himself whilst his tired eyelids slowly parted. His right hand tried to rub his sleep from his face but he felt it being clenched tightly by a soft and gentle touch. Scratching his head with his left hand he looked down at the thing which was clinging to his arm, and found out that it was the still same person whom had fallen asleep against him. Takashi chuckled softy before resting his hand on her shoulder.

Through the window came a warm sunlight which slowly heated up Takashi's somewhat exhausted body.

He wanted to stand up and get something to eat as he felt that his tummy would begin to rumble anytime now. Yet a certain head which was firmly positioned on his crotch was stopping him from standing up without waking her up. T'was because of this that he decided to stay put just a little longer, she needed her sleep.

Looking up at the ceiling he noticed some left over decorations. They ranged from colored lights to by now deflated balloons. Normally this would cheer a person up, but the way it hung there now was even more depressing. Maybe their moods would rise a bit if they'd find a place with some decent decorations? At least something completely intact. Intact and peaceful, as even now he could hear stuff happening around him everywhere.

"Oh yeah… those new people.. I guess I should be the one meeting them, seeing that we are the hosts of this place… Saeko-san?" He talked to her in vain for all he got in return were a few snores and moans. Her body began murmuring a little and the brown haired leader felt it tickle right down there at his pelvis area.

"Hmm?" He looked down again and almost squealed when he saw her head trying to find a better position right on his private area. Closing his eyes he start to whisper softly to himself. _Come on… Don't get a stiffy now, don't, don't, No Body! Stop!_

Almost having the urge to jump up from awkwardness he instead shuffled a bit to the right, letting her head rest on his left leg. Blushing fervently he coughed a bit and rolled his eyes. But, besides his body reacting, there was also something being re kindled in his stomach. A flame which had recently been lit, then yesterday it seemed to fade away ever so slightly, yet now it was burning with passion again. Nevertheless, a black stain was to be seen in that nigh perfect fire. A black spot which would never again be the same.

"Saeko-san… Busujima-san? Hmmm.." Thinking about useless things like which version of her name he liked better he didn't even notice his hand was playing with the fiber of her dark red basketball singlet. Tracing his hand down from her upper hip to just beneath her armpit. Then going down again, just to redo everything from the start. Each time lifting her shirt slightly up, and then back down again.

"Hmm… where are my sorrows?" He suddenly asked himself. "Why am I not feeling down…?" Upon thinking this he increased the pace with which he was stroking the girl. Trying hard not to anger himself, those two questions kept popping up. Almost taking the better of him, and it was merely due to some sudden groans and shivers that he was flashed back to this mortal realm.

"Hnnng… hmm?" Suddenly two bright flashes blinded Takashi as his girlfriend's eyes opened. Flood waves of oceanic blue disturbed his thoughts as he only now noticed that those eyes were staring all around her with the same confusion as he had had before. Noticing something pulling on her singlet she immediately moved her hand there and within the blink of an eye she sprung up. Still holding the hand firmly she first looked to her right, only to quickly move the thumb of her other hand from her tender pink lips.

As her face then turned to face Takashi's surprised and widely opened eyes she was blushing quite passionately. _What was that Saeko? What were you thinking._

As she kept thinking to herself whilst staring at Takashi with slightly opened lips he couldn't help but to chuckle. "Good morning to you to, saeko-san."

"G…good morning. Takashi-kun…" She held back a big yawn as her brain wanted to coughing and simply stretch away the exhaustion. Knowing all too well that her sudden movements might have been rather rude in his eyes she lowered her head slightly before trying to search for a subject to start this day with.

"Have you slept well Saeko-san? He suddenly asked, as he had had a head start with coming up with a question.

"Y-yeah…" She stared at her own thumb, which was still a tad moist from being sucked upon. _I really need to stop doing that… _Saeko thought to herself. "I had a calming night, I don't know why. But I felt incredibly comfortable… I… I hope you slept as well?" Her voice came out with quite a bit of hesitation.

He scratched the back of his head and nervously clenched his fist. "Yes, I slept very well. It feels as a new begin today…" He slapped his own legs and stood up upon saying this. Redoing his black sweater he sighed. What was he supposed to do? He didn't feel like meeting the new people just yet, nor did he feel like seeing his friends. He actually just wanted to be alone for a bit. "Saeko-san?" He looked around to face her with a soft yet genuine smile. He thought he noticed her being disappointed, but upon hearing his voice she seemed to lighten up a bit.

"Takashi."

"Let's go.." He offered her his hand, waited a few seconds for her reaction, and then finally pulled her up. He used quite a bit of force, almost forcing the girl to lean against him for support.

"What are you…"

"I just thought of something. I had a dream, and I need to ask you a few things." He really hadn't a clue as to what he was talking about. But he was not mad anymore, not even a bit. He really had a few useless questions in his mind. One of them was the question she had never given him an answer to. He asked that back on the way to the mall, after they had traversed that bridge.

"UHm… I…" She re did her singlet ,and only now Takashi noticed that she was wearing her trade mark dark purple bra. Had he only fantasized about her wearing nothing underneath it?

"Come on… it's been a long time since we had some sort of normal conversation." He closed his eyes and smiled at her, making her feel incredibly shy out of the sudden.

"True… Okay, let me put on my shoes. "

Takashi noticed her bare feet now. She fell asleep with those things on hadn't she? _Hmm, she must have awakened or something. _ As he watched her sitting back down to put on her boots his eyes traversed the humungous hall. The boy only now noticed how alive it was. He saw Kohta and Saya talking with one of the newcomers. At this distance he couldn't describe the new girl, but she seemed to get along well with Saya and Kohta. Wait… did he just… Yes he saw it. He saw Saya laugh. "Haha, whomever that new girl is, she must have a special sort of humor." He spoke to himself, unintentionally get the attention of the girl whom was sitting near to him.

Saeko now looked over her shoulder, and she as well was surprised by how many people there suddenly seemed to be. What surprised her the most however was the fact that the two groups were mixed up. She as well Saw Kohta, Saya and the new girl. Rei was talking with one of the newcomers as well. The guy appeared to have taken a liking to the girl for he could be clearly seen behaving like a macho.

Then there was Shizuka, whom was brushing Alice's hair. Next to her sat one of the other guys. But unlike the others, these two didn't seem to be talking. No, they just happened to be sitting next to each other.

Then, in one of the corners another guy laid down with his hands behind his head. Whatever he looked like, he appeared to be incredibly tall. For even laying down like this, made him come across as a giant.

Just as she was about to turn her attention to Takashi again, she noticed that familiar guy standing near the windows again. A girl was by his side whilst they stared out of the barricaded window.

"I'm sure of it… I have seen him before…"

"Hmm, did you say something?" Takashi asked as her heard his girlfriend whisper softly.

"Y-yes…" Saeko stuttered, she felt a bit intruded. "That guy comes across slightly familiar.. that's all."

"Hm, the one over at the window?" He asked as he observed the person Saeko mentioned. He recognized him as the leader and he as well tried to recall him."Hmm no, I can't say I know him from anything… "

"It's not important. Just a hunch." He had tightened her last shoe lace and stood up, giving Takashi a very warm smile. The girl was happy and she did not know why. Yet her stomach was having a ticklish feeling and her mind seemed to be totally of track. "Where do you want to go?"

"Just to the roof… or somewhere. I don't know, let's discover the house whilst we talk?" He stared in her eyes and then at the roof whilst saying this.

"Okay, sounds good I suppose.." She replied softly before being shaken awake by a voice coming from the room.

"Takashi!" Kohta yelled. "You have got to see this!" Immediately he turned his head to see what Hirano was up to. He looked in their direction and noticed the two girls face palming themselves. Yet not long after Saya as well looked at him and hinted at both Saeko and Takashi to join them.

Takashi nodded his head in agreement before sighing in disappointment. He really did not feel like this…

He looked at saeko, whom now clenched her own biceps, not aware that her breasts were resting completely on her pale and soft arms. She looked at the ground and for a change, Takashi could perfectly tell what she was thinking. She wanted to be with him alone, and knowing her thoughts made him happy. Since, even though he wouldn't admit it, Takashi wanted nothing more as to be alone with the girl and simply talk. He really wanted to know her hobbies…

"Saeko… We still have the entire day?" He spoke in an attempt to cheer her, and himself up.

"Yes, we do." She looked at him and as quickly as possible she changed her facial emotions to her usual calm if not somewhat emotionless self.

"Can I just ask you one question Saeko?" She eyed confused at him. Of course he could.

"Of course. What's on your mind?"

He look at his own shoulder and didn't really know why this question gave him this much trouble. Maybe it was because it was the last question he had asked her before shit had hit the fan.

All the while Saeko stared at her boyfriend. Something was bothering him and she did not know why. Sure, she figured it would still be about his mother. In fact, she was sure it was about that, and really… was that weird?

She deserved that anger…

"It may sound stupid but…. I asked you, back on the bridge to the mall, what your hobbies were and… I just want to get to know you a little bit better." His cheeks were burning as he realized how stupid he sounded. This girl was his partner no? Why the hell was he embarrassed about this?! His cheeks became even redder when he heard the girl giggle with her hands covering her mouth.

"Is that question still haunting your mind, Ku... Takashi-kun?"

Noticing how much of a fool he was making of himself he puffed and threw his hands up in the air. "D'erm… no. Of course not… Bah. Never mind! Hahahaha." He laughed like a donkey to cover up his shame before he noticed the girl was making the first step towards Kohta. In the blur of the moment he grabbed her arm to get her attention one more time.

He wasn't all too sure why he wanted to say his next line this badly, but he just felt like he had to.

"Saeko-san, we'll have some time alone today okay?" He pulled her a bit closer towards him and was pleasantly surprised to see her nodding with a faint and incredible small smile.

"We will." The few minutes she had been awake now had been one of the most weird mornings she had ever had. Weird and good… She was trying all too desperately to take every chance she could to make everyone forget about yesterday's disaster. Of course the girl knew perfectly well that it was never going to be forgotten, yet there was no harm in hoping was there?

Together they walked towards Kohta and were pleased to notice that it was nothing bad which they wanted to say. In fact, for a change it was good news. In between the three of them lay, what appeared to be, food. But not just any, they were packages of conserved meals.

"What… how did you get these?" Takashi mumbled softly but hearable. Yet before he wanted an answer from his friends he moved towards the new girl, whom was nervously twitching her legs and staring at the ground.

"Hey, I'm Takashi." He reached out for a handshake . "Kumoro Takashi." Waiting for her to reply he saw her school uniform. It was similar to the girl's uniform he was used to, yet instead of green the clothing was trimmed with blue lines. Once she shook his hand back and stood up he noticed that she was still relatively young. Younger than himself that was. Her hand felt damp yet warm.

"I'm kaname… Just kaname…" Upon saying these last words her voice changed to an incredible sad tone all of the sudden, yet Takashi tried to ignore it.

"Pleased to meet you." Shortly after he had let loose of her hand he heard some shuffling behind him. When he saw the girl's brown eyes stare past his shoulder he figured that Saeko was greeting her as well. _Most likely doing her trademark bow, …Saeko-san._

"Busujima Saeko is the name." he heard behind him soon after. Once again Kaname introduced herself in precisely the same way, only without a handshake.

"So, now that you two have introduced yourselves…"Saya began. "I have some good news. We have food… good food for a change. All we need is some sort of microwave, and Kohta and me are already working on that." Saya spoke proudly.

"Yes we are!" The chubby boy spoke quite enthusiastic.

"So, if you'd excuse us. We are going to look for some sort of metal box first." Saya stood up and pulled Kohta by his Colbert towards the ladder leading down the basement. Both Takashi and Saeko were rather surprised by this behavior of Saya. Was food really making her this happy?

What followed shortly after was an awkward silence between the three people whom were left. Takashi now had the time to look at the girl in front of him. Her pale skin had a soft red tone over it, making it faintly pink. Her brown eyes were as sparkling as ever and her long hair was a somewhat darker blue colour. Her hair was nothing like saeko's, for she had two locks over her face whilst the end of her hair was held together by a ribbon. It was a cute sight really. She was about a head smaller than Takashi. Rendering her, after Alice whom still has to grow a lot, the smallest member of the group. That also counted for her… well, female curves. They were definitely there, but compared to the girls Takashi had been surviving with, she was slenderly built. Yet then again… She was fifteen, maybe sixteen, so that could still change.

The silence was broken by a sudden voice which sounded both annoyed and happy in the same time.

"Stealing my girl are you?" a male voice suddenly spoke.

Before Takashi could even look who he was Kaname had already snarled back that she definitely wasn't his girl.

"I'm not your girl… I have somebody out there…" That last line was spoken incredibly soft, and only Saeko had managed to pick it up since Takashi was now paying his attention to the guy.

The man walked towards them obviously shaking his head and raising his shoulders. "Whatever Kaname-chan. It's just a matter of time haha." He was joking, that much was clear for Takashi, yet the girl in front of him seemed deeply aggravated by it.

"Go away Ilya… " T'was weird that she spoke that name. That was not a Japanese name, no it was Russian wasn't it?

"Tsk tsk tsk, not even polite anymore now?" Once he had reached Takashi he immediately offered his hand. They two guys looked at each other, at first glance they eyed rather hostile. Yet as soon as Takashi accepted his hand and introduced himself they cracked a smile and talked for a bit.

"Yooo, I'm Ilya Volk. And no, I'm not Japanese. I'm on a… well… holiday here, with my friends." He had a strong hand and a strong face, yet he wasn't very bulky nor tall. Last night in the dark he had eyed rather similar to Takashi, yet in the daylight the difference was clearly there. His eyes were blue and his somewhat long and spiky hair was brown, albeit lighter brown than Takashi's own hair. Wearing some black jeans and white sneakers, supported by a white blouse he eyed rather regular. Yet the guy had something… sinister around him. He seemed to joke around, at least that was Takashi's first impression, yet there was a constant undertone of sarcasm in his voice. It was quite spooky actually…

Nevertheless, Takashi shook his hand and introduced himself. He could only imagine the things that Ilya and Kaname where thinking off. At least… he was thinking about a lot.

"Hey, Takashi is the name. Kumoro Takashi."

"Yeah, I overheard that haha. And the beautiful lady is?" He turned his attention towards Saeko whilst making a fake yet quite amusing bow. The girl, whom didn't really know how to react just used her trademark once again. Performed a slight bow with her hands together.

"Busujima Saeko, pleased to be aquinted."

"Yeah it is an hono…Wait…" All of the sudden his blue eyes opened widely in shock.

Takashi noticed all too well how he behaved, and being ever so slightly annoyed by him charming Saeko he was quick to ask what was wrong.

"What's on your mind, Volk-san?"

"N-nothing special… Busujima Saeko you said it was? "

"Yes.." Saeko replied on a rather cold tone. Wondering what he was on about she gave him her full attention at this point.

"Wow… UHm, do you happen to know him." He suddenly turned around and pointed at the guy whom was talking with the girl at the window. Takashi looked at his girl whom was staring over Ilya's shoulder and seemed to be trying to figure out whom the guy was. She had said that he was familiar hadn't she?

"He looks familiar, That's for sure." She replied after almost a full minute of thinking.

"He mentioned a Busujima … Uhm, Saeko I think. His name is Anton,do you know him yes or no?" The guy got a bit inpatient yet he kept on smiling. Before Saeko could even respond he had already moved past the three people that were still here as he grabbed a somewhat brown apple and moved away towards whatever he felt like.

Once the three were once again alone the stares they gave each other all spoke the same emotion. Confusion.

"Saeko-san, do you know this Anton?" Takashi asked as he saw the girl's oceanic eyes look to her left and right, trying to place the name.

"Y-yes… It's quite a while back but… I think I do." She looked at the window and once again observed the duo over there._ IS that you? You've changed… a lot._

Before Takashi could reply the girl whom was still with them interrupted."Ilya-san wasn't lying though… Anton has mentioned somebody by your name. He already told me that she was a kendo master… but I hadn't thought that he would know the regional champion…"

"Haha, looks like your reputation precedes you Saeko." Takashi mocked as he noticed the tone in which Kaneme spoke. It was a tone of shyness and respect.

"Y-yeah… so it seems. Takashi…" She turned around and looked her leader in the eyes. "Will you please come along…" Her shyness was weird, did she even have to ask that?

"Of course… Kaname-chan, if you'd excuse us. " Takashi spoke as he made a gesture to walk towards the window.

"No problem…" The strangely blue haired girl spoke as she turned around and made her way to the tall guy whom was now sleeping against the wall.

Takashi look around a bit at first. Nothing had changed… Rei was still talking to the guy against the pillar and that… annoyed? Takashi. Why on earth would it annoy him?

"Let's go…" He spoke as he walked towards the window, closely following Saeko this time.

As the duo came closer and closer to their target he could clearly see Saeko's personality change. From shy and unknowing, to a whole lot more happy and quick.

"It's him." She said as she was but a mere five meters removed.

Takashi frowned his right eyebrow as he heard these words."It's him?"

"Yes."

**Five meters away.**

"Bah,it is forgiven. We can all lose ourselves from time to time." The big guy spoke.

"Yes but I shouldn't have shown that weakness. It's bad for the group…"

"Who cares? I don't." The guy spoke as he observed the hordes of them which were still slumbering over the terrain.

"I care…" The girl replied, getting ever so slightly annoyed once again."I care about this group, as much as I care about you. Don't act so indifferent…"

"Haha fine fine, apology accepted. Now, what can we do about them?" He pointed with his thumb towards the window as he made a ninety degree turn so his side would lean against the window. Yet instead of staying in this position he saw something within the corner of his eyes. Completely ignoring the black haired beauty in front of him his eyes derailed as his face turn to see what was approaching him.

Everyone knows how awkward of a moment it is to suddenly meet an old friend. Let alone in a world like this. Neither of them had any words, but simply stared. This left both Takashi and the strange girl in quite the awkward moment.

For the two lost friends it was a feeling of immense happiness. Neither of them knew how long it had been since they had felt this good about something. The last time for Saeko had been a few days back with Takashi, as for the guy named Anton it was not known.

"Saeko-kun? Is that… oh god I did not… What am I…" He was awakened when he heard that giggle once again.

"Anton, it's been a while." She had her arms crossed and smiled with her eyes closed. Even when he stormed forwards to embrace the girl she held that position. Being squashed between the arms of men was something which she was getting used to with Takashi. But she didn't resist, no she only whispered some words and kept on smiling.

"For fucks sake woman… I thought you were dead. "

All the while Takashi looked at the two. Without him knowing it he held back a smile upon seeing his girl this happy for a change. But that was only his unconsciousness, his other thoughts didn't like the sight at all. This hug was a bit too… intense. It may just have been his jealous thoughts, but seeing her breasts against him, her legs so close to his' drove him mad. He clenched a fist, yet managed to calm down. For as he looked left and saw the girl that was still standing at the window he knew that she felt the same. The girl gritted her teeth and had her hand on her katana. On her… Katana?

Neither of them had to be mad for long though, for after a subtle thirty seconds they parted their ways and looked at each other. Takashi only now saw how the guy looked. And yes, he hadn't been wrong last night. His eyes were grey, almost white even. T'was, to put if softly, scary and enigmatic. It made him look like a saint. Yet his eyes were the only thing which vaguely resembled a saint. His buzz cut, along with a subtle stubble beard imprisoned his face. The guy was rather tall, yet not too much. His clothes had changed, for now he had a plain blue blouse, jeans and a pair of sneakers. In his belt he had a revolver and what appeared to be a military water bottle.

However he looked at it, this guy was European.

"Holy shit it is good to see you again. How long has it been, four years? Five years?" He stuttered out.

"Five years since I was in Russia with my father. A lot has changed since then…"

"I bet! Wait, you should tell me all about it. I have a lot too share, I won't forget what you did for me back then."

As he spoke this Takashi saw all too well how the girl blushed. What… was this the guy she had mentioned before? Back when they were trying to get to the Takagi manor? She had explicitly told him that there had only been one guy hadn't she?

"It was your fault for obliterating that mirror in the first place… It was a family heirloom."

"Tsssshahaha, yeah, yeah I guess it was. Haha anyways, did I tell you it is good to see you?"

"You did. And I'm glad as well."

Kumoro really saw a completely different Saeko in front of him. Should he interrupt them? He didn't have to for the girl over at the windows did it faster. She coughed, with a more than evident tone of annoyance. It had effect, for within the blink of an eye the guy coughed, rubbed his hair with his hand and turned around in such a way that the four of them formed a circle.

"Erherm… yeah. Sorry. UHm…"He turned to Takashi and introduced himself.. "I'm Anton, it's an honour to meet the friends of a Busujima..

"Uhm…" He desperately wanted to say that they were more than friends. He didn't know why, but at this point is was more about his own jealousy, than his love for the girl. "Likewise, Kumoro Takashi is the name." The younger guy couldn't help but to give him a firm handshake, maybe even a bit too firm. Nevertheless, he was interrupted when he heard the two women greet each other. Both of them bowed, yet there seemed to be some sort of … rivalry between them. Was it the same jealousy as Takashi? Or was it something different? It eyed different, that was for sure.

When it was his turn to greet the raven haired girl he also observed her. How on earth was it possible for him to meet only stunning women? Did God not want them to die or something?

She wasn't that tall, at least half a head smaller than he was. Her skin flawless, and her eyes were…pink? Pinkish brown was the best name. He didn't find them as enthralling as the light blue he loved… but it sure was special.

Her slender figure very much resembled Rei's body, so it was something for which he had begged for more than a couple of years. Albeit, this girl felt slightly more athletic.

Wearing simple black jeans , a white tshirt with a denim javket over it she eyed rather normal, at least nothing special. Yet her hair, which was strapped tightly in a pony tail was something which was justas Saeko like this. Besides the fact that instead of a pony she simply had a few strands of hair in her face.

However beautiful she was… he didn't feel no link. Did he finally settle down?

"Kumoro Takashi. Hey."

"Kosake Kaori, the honor is mine." Her voice sounded as if she was hiding a lot of disappointment. Nevertheless, she smiled.

"So, now that we all know each other, what do you say we get us some action?" Anton spoke, whilst he hinted at Saeko and takashi for them to look out the window.

What they saw was expected… yet this amount was mind buggling. One loud sound and everything was over…

"We'll discuss this after breakfast…"The boy spoke, as he heard his tummy rumble. And not long after he heard a soft and cute rumble from Saeko's tummy as well. The latter whom quickly looked away and played a bit with the hilt of her blade.

"Good idea… so how is that micro wave doing?"

"Micro wave?" The raven girl asked, not knowing what was said.

"Yeah… uhm. Those two over there. UHm… Takagi and… Kotta? Kuhta?"

"Kohta." Takashi replied.

"Yes! Kohta. Those two are trying to see if they can make a makeshift micro wave or something. "

"They're still looking for parts in the basement." The brown haired guy continued.

"Well… that will take a while I guess. If you'd all excuse me… I have to speak with miss Kaori-kun over here." Upon saying this he had something in his voice which somehow sounded… charming. As it obviously had effect, the raven girl next to him quickly tried to turn her attention to something else, before agreeing.

"Saeko-kun, we'll talk later this day okay? I want to hear of your adventures."

"Yeah, sure." She nodded with a smile, before she realized that she had also made an appointment with Takashi later this day. Ah well… there was enough time for two conversations.

"Saeko-san?" Takashi asked once he was done with observing the amounts of them outside.

"Takashi?"

"Is he a friend of yours?" he felt her presence nearing him as she joined him over by the window. Unlike the rest, she saw the zounds as an adventure, not a threat

"You could say that…" Not sure why, but she didn't feel like telling everything right now. Her tummy was begging for food…But then again. It was Kumoro whom asked something, so she could make some time. "I went along with my father to Russia once, to see if he could open a dojo there. I met him and well… simply said. We simply got along. He was one of the first to ask for a job in the new dojo, and he always tried to help me with my training. Hehe… Though I have to say it was never usefull. It was however… fun?"

"I see…"

The guy looked at the girl to his right and was surprised to see her eyes being full of energy. Unlike the other days they were no longer dark. It might also have been the sunlight which was illuminating her stunning face, yet she eyed genuinely happy now. Suddenly she as well turned her head to face Takashi.

"I'm really glad to have him here, and I can't wait to talk with him but…"

"But?" Takashi asked softly as he couldn't get his eyes from her.

"But I don't want you to be jealous. Takashi-kun… we're only friends, trust me okay?"

Something in her way of saying this annoyed him. How on earth did she know that he had felt that way? Anyways… it didn't matter. They were only friends, that was good right?

"Of course I trust you.I didn't think that anyways." He lied, and she knew it. But it was a harmless lie, so the girl could do nothing else but giggle a bit.

Instead of staring at the hordes of them they watched the clouds. It was a warm day… they should enjoy this for as long as they can. Winter is coming.

"Takashi!" Was suddenly screamed from behind him. It was Rei, joined by another guy. This stranger eyed rather normal for a change. He was most likely from India, his skin betrayed that much. His brown eyes and short black hair weren't that outstanding either.

Dressed with black track pants and a black hoodie there really wasn't a single outstanding thing. Safe for his face. It was normal, and it eyed young. But what surprised Takashi was how happy he looked… How could somebody be this happy in times like this?

"Hmm, what's up Rei?" He asked as he turned around, noticing how the girl next to him remained to stare at the clouds.

"Well… if it is not too much asked. Could you come with us for a bit?" Her eyes were sparkling, which usually meant that somebody had genuinely pleased her. What was he up to? Or better yet, what was she up to?

"Uhm, … I suppose… " His voice sounded monotone, for he didn't want to be too enthusiastic with Saeko next to him.

"great great! Come, it's on the second floor." It appeared as if she was jumping when as she clenched her eyes in joy. Without waiting for much longer she made her way to the stairs as soon as Takashi made one step forwards.

He looked over his shoulder once again and what he saw hurt him. Her happy eyes had once again changed… was this a smart thing to do? No. No it was obviously not.

"Saeko… will you come along?" He asked, hoping that that would cheer her up. He saw a faint smile and she stood up to face them.

"No sorry, I'm going to see if I can help Kohta and Saya with something." The sadness which she had shown when Rei came was now gone. It seems that Takashi's invitation really hit the right spot.

"Okay, have fun." Takashi spoke on a genuine tone. Yet it most likely came out rather sarcastic. Nevertheless she nodded softly and kept looking him in the eyes.

The way in which she did that was really torturing for him. Her faintly pink lips, red cheeks and stunning eyes. He couldn't just walk away from this? He saw her cleavage all too well when he tried to cough it away and immediately pulled his sweater down a little.

"Right… erherm… I'll be off then."

He didn't dare to look back, for he feared being captured by her looks. He walked on, joined by the stranger whom gently offered him his hands.

"I'm Segio Singh. What's up?"

"Kumoro Takashi. Is the name… do you know what's going on?" Takashi asked rather uninterested.

"Yeah…she asked me to develop some of her old pictures. The roll she had with her should be in decent state. And hey… who am I to say no to such a nice pair of ti…. Eyes. Yes. Eyes."

Takashi looked down at him from the corner of his eyes and wasn't sure whether to laugh or to sigh. The answer came automatically though as he felt his lips open and sounds of laughter leaving his lips.

"Haha, I suppose you want to die."

"Huh?" The guy wondered. Not knowing that it simply was Takashi's catch phrase.

"Nevermind. "

Ï will. Now, … was that girl back there yours?"

"Hmm, who? Rei?" He didn't know what to say actually. Of course the answer was no, yet that would be the first time in his life to say such a thing to a stranger.

"Noooo, that blue haired girl over there at the window." Both of the guys looked at Saeko, whom had her back turned to them. She was still staring out of the window , which made Takashi wonder whether she was admiring the sky, or them.

"Y-yes… Yes she's my girl. However weird that may be…"

"Wowa…. Lucky you. I guess my chances with Rei-san are still genuine then!" He suddenly walked forwards a little faster, thus not seeing Takashi's frowning face. He might not be dating rei but still… he felt something for her?

All the while the trio was going to the dark room, two duos were doing their thing and Alice and Shizuka were sleeping again. Saeko was doing absolutely nothing.

It is true that she was staring at them, but not with a killer instinct for a change. She was … well…simply staring at them.

The girl was happy, her friend was here. And he was in good company or so it seems. She had now seen everyone besides the tall guy whom was , as far as she knew, still sleeping against the wall.

Saeko had much to tell Anton. He had been there when her life began to change… Yet he hadn't been there when she needed a friend. Something which she did not blame him for… yet there it was. That feeling of emptiness.

Her thoughts immediately drooled off. For the time being she had completely forgotten about the horrors this place held back for her. It was also at this point that she decided that she would tell Takashi about it. Maybe he would know a solution? He was good at coming up with solutions right? He was their leader… and more importantly. He was her boyfriend.

Yet something within her stomach puked at that word. She loved Kumoro Takashi, she really did. But it was so weird… so sudden. Never before had she taken a sudden liking to somebody. Her first crush had been a long and painful process, and it never worked out. But now it was like a storm.

She sighed to herself."If only it does not pass over anytime soon…"

A sudden voice behind her spooked her. Luckily for her honour, she had almost no reaction when she was scared, so nobody noticed it.

When she looked behind her Saeko saw three people. Alice, Kaname and the tall bloke.

"Uhm…."

"Saeko-chan! I want to introduce you to these two!" The little girl spoke with enthusiasm.

_Why is she so happy… why does she talk to me? I… I ruined her image yesterday… I made her witness something cruel. Did she forgive me? The girl is a mere child… A brave one, but a child._

"Hellooooo, Saeko?" The little one went on. Had she really forgotten everything? She might have actually been unconscious out of shock… Was that even possible?

" *coughs* Sorry. Kaname-chan." Saeko spoke, as she once again made a very subtle bow.

"hey… sorry. She insisted." The girl in the blue sailor uniform smiled softly as she saw the little girl.

"It's all right…" She now turned to the big guy, and really… he was big. She was a subtle 174 cm. yet he towered above her. If she had ever been curious, it was about his length.

"Busujima Saeko is the name." The female samurai spoke with her trademark bow. As she looked up again she saw a hand just in front of her, it actually startled her a bit. This guy was not Japanese she could see that… but apparently he didn't know that she bowed to not shake hands.

Nevertheless, it was a good change.

"Jasper ter Horst is the name. " Upon hearing the name Jasper she immediately thought about that guy in the mall… the one that had lost himself and his family. Both mentally and physically."Though I suppose I should say Ter Horst Jasper, considering we're in Japan.

_Ah… so he knows our country at least a bit…_ She shook his hand very shortly before ending the introduction.

His hand had felt large as well… was this a giant? Of course it wasn't. The boy was just a 207 cm tall bloke. His brown hair was slightly longer than Takashi's and covered up one eye, it also caused him to have an annoying twitch with his head to get hair out of his eye. He had a faint moustache, goatee, and more facial hair running over his cheek line. Yet it all seemed rather well trimmed as it was. He must have been carrying a razor blade with him. His eyes were dark, really dark and it was more than evident that he suffered from chronic sleeping problems. Yet his skin wasn't pale but ever so slightly tanned. Then again, compared to her own skin, that was not hard. She was by far the palest in this building. Except for the dog Zeke then.. Come to think of it, where was that dog?

The guy was wearing black jeans, which were not too tight and not too loose. Just regular black jeans. His torso was covered by a pure black singlet, which was rather loose, he obviously was not shy to show off his arms and chest. His attire was joined by a dark red bandana tied around his arm. All in all he wasn't overly muscled. You saw the outlined and the shapes, but compared to Anton he was rather normal. About the same body build as Takashi, just a tad broader.

"Well… Kaneme here told me to say hi. Even woke me up for it…" He gave the girl the evil eye whilst saying this. "Soo…. Hey."

"Hello." Saeko replied in a rather cold way. She was confused, what was she supposed to do.

"I heard you were friends with Anton? Or at least, that's what it looked like. I've heard a lot about you." He spoke, in an attempt to keep the conversation rolling.

" We used to be very good friends, yes. I haven't seen him for a few years. But yes,… it is great to have him back by my side."

"Haha, I can only imagine. It is hard to…lose somebody." Within the moment his voice turned even heavier than it already was. He swallowed his fury before inviting both Kaname and Saeko to eat a little bit of some walnuts he had spared.

It was weird, and she did not know why. But as she sat down with the boy and the girl, next to Shizuka and Alice, she felt comfortable. Completely forgetting that she wanted to help Kohta and Saya, she struggled to open a very naughty nut, which simply did not want to crack.

The five of them barely spoke. And it was either Alice and Shizuka whom had a conversation, or Kaname and Jasper. Yet from time to time, they talked with each other again.

Alice, Shizuka and Saeko quickly learned that all of the four guys were here on a holiday. Sergio and himself were here to meet up with Anton and Ilya, as they apparently met via the internet over a game called Dawn of war. Being good friends and all, they decided that it was time to meet in real life.

And now they were here… in a shit hole of a city. They were simply happy to not yet be dead.

_Boring chapter! But a neccecary one. Next time the adventure will begin again._

_Thanks for reading!_

_Feel free to give criticism or compliments. Both are a great push in the back._

_Hmm…. Did you all know that I love Saeko? If she was real I… Wow nevermind. Anyways, I'm going to aim for a bit Takashi Rei again. Just to get the rivalry going again!_

_Have a good one!_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Yamucha-san._


	9. Once again they'll all be dead

_YES! YES YES YES! Haha… What am I thinking about? I don't know. I am just happy whilst typing this. Met an awesome person? Got my wage… studying is over… Good good.( All of this is sarcasm btw.)_

_I do not own Highschool of the dead, All rights belong to its original author and animators._

_Oh yeah and by the way. I forgot to say so in the last act. But Anton and Ilya are made up by one of my best Fanfiction buddies. They are not my characters. Il-rev is the person whom invented those two awesome characters. _

_**Act 10:**_

"Thank god for this flashlight…" Takashi mumbled as he shone his light through the hallway. He heard the footsteps of both Rei and the newcomer Sergio behind him. They had been whispering a few things but he had been unable to make up the things they discussed. The gloomy and, at times, fading light of the flashlight guided his way thought the dark and crackly rooms of the building. If they had gone the other way, they'd have encountered the opened windows by Shizuka and… Suki. But no, they took the different hallway and found themselves lost in their quest for the dark room. Provided that Sergio could even develop the pictures without electricity, they'd be gone for quite a bit of time. Which wouldn't be that big of a problem if they had told the others. But they hadn't, thus t'was a mere matter of time before the other survivors would start to worry about them.

That however wasn't the problem. It were their own spirits that posed a serious threat to the safety of this thing. It was dark… way too dark. And considering that all of them knew that it was light outside, made them worry even more.

"Takashi! Keep that flashlight in front of us already!" Rei yelled at him with some obvious fear in her tone.

"I'm trying, I'm trying. Why don't you come up here and lead the way then?" He spoke whilst rolling his eyes. He looked to his left and to his right and shone his light on the signs outside of the doors. "Singh-san, where did you say that dark room was again?"

"Hell… I don't know." The new boy replied. "I just saw a sign outside that pictures could be developed here…" As he stumbled into Rei and apologized Takashi noted his weapon of choice. Instead of the blunt and simple weapons most of them, except Saeko, had picked. This guy had in his hand an army knife of quite a big proportion. It was too small to be a short sword, but still… it was too large for it to be a mere knife or dagger. What Takashi did not know was, that in his backpack, he had another pair of knifes. As well as a sheeted one in his belt. Everyone had had to fight to survive, and everyone knew that having reserve weapons was smart. Yet… so many knifes? Was that truly necessary?

"Whatever…"Takashi mumbled. His words went unheard for the dark wooden floor cracked with every step they took.

"What are we even looking for?" He eventually asked as they turned right yet again. The guy noticed that he lowered his voice unintentionally.

"The dark room… I just want these pictures, and then we can go back." Rei replied with an equally soft voice. She slightly stuttered, revealing her fear of being in this dark place with only the flicker light of Takashi's torch to guide them. .

"When we arrived at this port I had some pictured developed here. I can clearly remember the retailer walking into this hallway… so it has to be around here somewhere." Sergio added whilst he was trying to get a second flashlight to work.

"Yeah well… that doesn't really help us. It's like finding a needle in a haystack…" Takashi complained. "I think it is for the best if we each check a few rooms, or drop this entire search. There is no way we'll find a single room in a building like this with a mere two flashlights." The second flashlight had flashed awake whilst Takashi was saying this line, hence the end.

"We have just two torches…" Rei muttered, as she grabbed her own arms and shielded herself from the dark. Her eyes were following the dust particles in the light beam before Takashi's soft words reached her ears once more.

"Hm yeah, that's quite an issue indeed. Yet easily avoided. I'll check these room on the right…" He gestured to the right of the hallway with his hand before telling the other two to check the rooms on the left side of the hallway. Obviously he did not want to be alone, yet he couldn't get himself to send the girl, or the new guy alone as well.

"But… I do not think it is safe for us to split up." Rei spoke with genuine concern in her voice.

"It's not." Takashi replied within a second. Stunning both Rei Sergio. "It´s the only choice we have though."

"No it is not…" Rei shoved back. "It's not and you know that. Why are you acting as if we are in a hurry anyways?! We have all day, it's not as if we have anything better to do." It felt awkward for her to be yelling at Takashi in this darkness. Even though they knew that if any of Them were in the building they would have revealed themselves by now, it was still scary. They were so frail, so vulnerable and such a perfect target like this. Two flashlights were their only source of light and life at this point.

"Then what do you propose?" Takashi mumbled back as he shed his light on a painting of a woman eating an apple in a strange way.

"We stay together of course…" The girl whispered back. One minute of silence fell over them before it was the new kid whom opened his mouth.

"Miyamoto-san has a point though…" Before he could go on he was already interrupted.

"It's Rei. Not Miyamoto…"

"I… Fine. Rei-san has a point. If there was indeed any danger in the darkness it would have jumped at us already. We know by now that they are not intelligent enough to be laying in an ambush.

Takashi looked at the boy's shadow, for he could only make a figure up in this dark.

"Maybe… the fact is however, that we know absolutely nothing about Them. Anyhow… I won't try to discuss with the two of you. We'll stick together then…" Takashi's voice was dry and emotionless at this point. He felt sleep coming up again… why did he go along with these two anyways? What pictures did she want at this point? Shots of her mother? Father? Him and her? He didn't want to see any of those.

He wanted to eat. To hear his depleted stomach growl in this void of black was embarrassing. What if they would be ambushed because they heard the orchestra which came from his stomach?

"Not better plans… just better logic." Rei added, whilst she whispered a faint –thank you- to Sergio.

"Yeah… whatever…"

"Yep."

The newcomer could clearly feel the tension between these two. And without any more doubt, he confirmed to himself that these two were ex lovers. His teenage mind, obviously, went astray upon seeing girls like Rei. And, not knowing the flaws of the group which held the building, he had quickly developed a harmless crush on this girl which had asked him so nicely to develop the pictures. Now all he needed was a dark room which was still intact, and he might get laid! And get kids! And….

He was shaken awake when he suddenly heard a loud yell racing through his ears.

"Oi! Don't slack of Singh-kun!" Rei yelled in his ears with a soft giggle. She had come to like this guy in a friendly way. The fifteen year old kid had rekindled her spirit with some well deserved and long lost hope.

"Huh?! Erherm… right. I'll lead the way this time." He took a few steps towards the dark and was followed by the two older teenagers. Even though Rei was the only one whom was carrying a fire arm at this point, they felt as if they would be able to tackle quite a lot of Them with just their melee prowess. None of them were specialists of course, yet all of them were veterans.

For how long they could be veterans? That was a question upon which there was no answer. Albeit, the most gruesome answer, was most likely the correct one.

**-The main hall-**

"So… How is that microwave coming along?" The Russian guy named Ilya mocked as he took his place right behind Kohta, whom was trying to balance the big steel box over the remains of their former fire.

Not really paying attention to the guy behind him he was having troubles with positioning the steel base in such a way that it would guide the heat through the box.

"Oi? Are you listening?!"

"Hmm what?" The chubby kid stuttered back. Thus far he had no negative thoughts about the new people, yet this guy eyed intimidating like this. Both of the Russians had faint stubbles, but unlike Anton, those very stubbles made Ilya look like a villain. His already battered face only eyed more fatigued by it.

"I said, how is th…"

"It will be done in a bit." Saya interrupted. Handing Kohta the last screws he needed she let her eyes slip. First at the stranger, then at the food.

"But I'm hungry now…" He sat down on one of the chairs and let his head rest in his sturdy palms. Rubbing the hair from his eyes he groaned."My head hurts… I really need some proper sleep."

"Then go and sleep…. This is quite a delicate process." The genius girl snarled a tad annoyed. Unlike Kohta, she had already formed her opinion about all of the newcomers and this guy might be the one she liked the least. His constant complaining already began to get to her head.

"Tssshaha, you're quite fiery aren't you. Let me guess… y…"

"Just shush, if only for a moment. " Saya threw back before he could finish his sentence.

With a sudden change in his voice the guy sighed at her snarly comments."Ugh…I'm sorry. It has simply been rough the last few days…"

"Not only for you." Saya could swear she saw him frown at her last comments. His facial features, if only for a moment, became incredibly furious. Some words were on the tip of his tongue before he sighed once more and closed his eyes, not letting anyone see his swallowed sadness.

Not much further from the fire sat five others. Alice and the nurse were lost in dreamland with the puppy dog on Alice's lap. The three others were having a very slow, yet calming conversation. Between Saeko and Kaname words were shared quite easily, seeing that they were both Japanese. Yet the one whom said the most was the one speaking the worst Japanese. Therefore whenever he added something he first had to translate it word for word, then he had to wait for the two girls to figure it out and reply, and then the process of translating their sentences began. All in all, it was rather weird and uncomfortable, yet it worked.

"So how do you manage it? To have inhuman agility that is." The tall guy asked Saeko as he was twitching his right leg.

"… Training. I used to jog, stretch, lift and practice every day at least an hour or two. I never had much frien… I never had much else to do anyways." The indigo haired woman replied on her casual soft tone. The guy didn't even notice her cut off line for he was too busy buffering her words. Yet the girl in between them understood it perfectly well.

"It must have been hard work…" The young female replied in an attempt to make the proud Busujima feel better. Kaname knew as no other that Saeko's family was one to be respected. They brought the words honour and loyalty to completely new levels, something which had always inspired her somewhere in the back of her head.

Saeko, upon hearing the soft and girly voice next to her merely closed her eyes. "Not really… it was part of my life. If you don't know better, you don't miss anything either. Anyways…shall we discuss something else?"

"Yeah sure, no problem. Uhm…. Can you cook, Busujima-san? If so… Do you want to learn a few new tricks…? You probably already know them b…. but… just…" The younger blue haired girl kept tripping over her own words. She felt embarrassed. This woman next to her was a fighting machine, able to slash down hundreds of them and defend her friends. And here she was… talking about cooking.

"I can prepare some basic meals… I always made my own diet. But it would be great to get our minds of this world. Sure… let's check on the food." She stood up and redid her clothing. In truth, she did not feel like learning from little girls. Even whilst the female in front of her was at least fifteen, maybe even sixteen, Saeko felt as if it was inappropriate.

Kaneme stood up as well and looked down to the tall bloke whom was still sitting on the chair. His eyes had long since derailed. _He must feel as if we don't like him… _"Ter Horst-san… do you want to come with us?" She asked in a kind voice. As he looked up in her big shiny brown eyes she could swear she saw a smile and a faint bit of happiness.

"It is Jasper… no need to be so formal anymore. And… I think I would stink at cooking… that is what you two are about to do isn't it?"

"Yes…" She placed her hands in her lap and once again felt stupid. Just like with Saeko, she knew that this guy had fought like a beast. In fact, the only reason she was alive was because he along with Anton had managed to keep her from breaking when they had to butcher her mother just in front of her.

"Haha… I have tasted your food, Kaname. It is great, I wouldn't want to ruin it with my cheesy Dutch hands. "

Saeko stopped in her trail and looked at the two. Something was different now… and if she hadn't been feeling as sad as she did, she might have actually noticed that there was a soft sparkle between the tall fellow and the small girl.

Nevertheless, she joined Kaname and the two of them went towards the food, and thus towards Kohta, Saya and Ilya.

The only ones whom were doing absolutely nothing at all were Anton and Kaori. They had gone to one of the abandoned rooms but instead of getting it on like one might think theywould. They had simply opened the windows and were staring out of it.

The black haired ninja leaned against the somewhat buffed guy and let her head rest on his shoulder. He, on his turn, wrapped his arm around her waist and simply sighed. He adored this girl, but never knew what to say. And that was exactly why he loved her. Usually he would keep talking in the hopes of preventing awkward silences, yet with kaori every conversation was a difficult quest.

At this point though, his mind was occupied by his long lost friend. He had so many questions for Saeko, yet he remembered that she wasn't much of a talker. Nevertheless, he would bombard her with useless questions. That would be a good way to get his own mind of this shit hole called earth.

**Back in the dark hallways.**

"I think this is it." Rei rolled from her lips as she opened the door. Not being able to see clearly she narrowed her eyes and scanned the room. No light, chemicals, no windows, old pictures… this was it right?"Hey, you two. I found the room!" She semi yelled, semi whispered though the hallway. Even though the area was most likely safe, screaming in times where you can barely see your own feet is never smart.

"Are you positive?" Takashi replied as he made his way towards the slender girl and the pitch black opening in the wall.

"I think so… let me borrow your light for a bit."

The duo was joined by Sergio as they shed their light on the insides of the room.

"Yeah… yeah this is it. Obviously." The bronze skinned fellow confirmed as he immediately made his way towards one of the desks. He started fiddling with some of the objects, but neither Takashi nor Rei knew what he was doing. "Rei-san, pass me the roll please.

The tender girl walked towards the desk as well, leaving the oldest of the three. "Sure, here you go." Her pale hand placed the photo roll in his darker toned hand. Softly talking Takashi really couldn't make up any of their words.

"Should I…" He was thinking to himself what he was supposed to do. He kept shining on the couple near the desk, not remember that there should be absolutely no bright lights in a room like this. though this wasn't the only thing which he was overseeing. With his back turned towards the hallway and his ears focused on trying to hear their words, the young boy didn't pay attention to any possible dangers anymore.

There wasn't any danger anyways. … Right?

"Takashi, shine that light somewhere else!" Rei yelled with a kind voice. She was in quite a jolly mood and got a few chuckles form the boy next to her. The brown haired leader whom had now taken a few steps into the room as well found himself to be… annoyed, by every laugh they shared. He could not call it jealousy, no not at all. But he could call it a poke in his side. It tickled, in a bad way.

"Right… Will this even work without any form of electricity?"

"If we have the right components… yes." Sergio replied whilst fidgeting with some objects and liquids on the table." Now.. turn off the light please."

"Don't you need that Red UV light we see in the films?" Takashi wondered before he pressed the switch to defuse his torch.

"Maybe I can do without… I don't know.. shhh."

As darkness overtook the room they all became silent. Only Sergio had any idea as to what he was doing, and even he had trouble with finding everything he needed.

"Will it work?" Rei asked once again after a few silent minutes. She didn't see that he turned his face towards her and gave her a faint smile whilst nodding. "This is scary…" She continued as she made her way towards the other side of the desk.

"It is…" Takashi mumbled a bit too hard.

"Only a little longer huh?" The girl added. Her soft feet moved towards her older leader andshe stood next to him as she observed the boy whom was busy with trying to do their will. "I like that guy." She spoke once more, albeit very softly now.

"..."

"All of them appear to be rather nice don't you agree?" She whispered on.

"Yeah… I guess. I think That that kaname girl and Anton are quite all right… Kaori as well, or what was the name?" Unlike Rei, Takashi spoke in his normal voice. Fully aware that the boy could clearly hear him. Not that that was a bad thing, since he had nothing bad to say.

"I have only spoken to Segio, and Ilya. But they strike me as a strong lot…"

"Quite so… I think."

Both of the teenagers knew perfectly well that the new group was just as battered and broken as they were. They were in the calm before the storm and they knew it.

What they did not know however, was that that very storm was inside these walls. To be more precise, it was lurking, smelling and …-thinking- about the three in the room.

With blurry visions, and vague thoughts it saw the three younglings. It saw objects in their hands and it heard voices coming from their frail throats. Its strong hands were clenching closely to the steel bars on the ceiling. Whatever it was… it was not human. Yet unlike Them, it knew, somewhere in the back of its head, what it was doing.

"Sergio-kun… how long will this take? I am feeling uncomfortable." Rei spoke, not seeing the slight frown on the bronze guy's his face. He was here because of her wasn't he? She had no reason to complain.

"It's hard like this… I can't see a single thing and I do not even know yet if I have the right components…"

"In other words…" Takashi added.

"Yes… this can take a while."

"-sigh- Well, I guess it can't be helped then. Take your time." He hadn't even said this or he heard some rumbling coming from the hallway. Within the blink of an eye all three of their faces were aimed at the door. "Did you all hear that?!"

"Yes..!" The two others replied in chorus.

"Shit… Let's hope that that was just the wind…" Although that comment coming from Takashi might have sounded stupid… it made sense. This house was safe right? They had confirmed as much…. Hadn't they?

"There was nothing before… Co…" Rei was quickly interrupted by The new guy, whom in a sudden movement placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, its most likely Kaori."

"Kaori?" Rei whispered back, not knowing whom that was.

"Yeah, she's with us. Following our every move is all she's been doing lately… " He suddenly began to talk softer in an, almost creepy, low voice. "Between the three of us… I think she's losing it…" He wasn't joking. He had always thought that Kaori, although beautiful, was weird. And it had only gotten worse and worse ever since their last run in with death.

"Losing it?" Rei asked. Takashi didn't talk, but he wondered the same. To him the woman named Kaori had come across fairly sane.

"Yeah, together with Kaname and Anton, she has had the roughest time… Anyways, let's call her out… that should make her feel bad. More often than not she goes away."

The boy walked towards the still open door and coughed a few times, leaving behind the older teenagers whom were simply confused by all of this. For a moment there they had felt fear once again, but now it was just confusion.

Rei looked up towards the taller guy next to her.

"What's this all about?" She whispered, hoping for a comforting answer.

".." Takashi did nothing but shrug his shoulders. His eyes were focused on the boy whom now walked through the door opening. Not sure why, but he felt himself getting sweaty.

"OI! Kaori-san, you can come out now… You're not really good at this are you?" The Indian guy yelled through the hallways. At first he looked left, only to stand face to face with an incredibly long stretched corridor of darkness. "She's not there…" He almost felt uncomfortable with turning his head to the right. For him it felt as if something would be standing face to face with him… and if that would be a pretty girl like Kaori, he would not mind. Yet… something, in the back of his head, warned him.

He closed his eyes for a bit and his hand went for the dagger in his belt. Sweat rolled over his forehead, he swallowed, and then in one ghastly swift movement he turned his head to his right. There was nothing… not even a sound safe for his panting.

"Not funny… NOT funny at all!" In the back of the hallway he definitely saw a dark shade hanging on the ceiling, it was vague and barely there, yet he clearly saw it. "This is not the place to be freaking us out! We know that you're a good free runner…"

All the while their new –friend- was yelling at something they couldn't even see, the two others simply stood there, amazed and still confused.

It was Takashi whom made the first move. "I don't like this… let's just go back, those pictures can wait." He heard a soft protest coming from Rei, but the girl quickly agreed and in the blur of the moment walked straight up against Takashi.

Stumbling back she grabbed her nose."Auch… Hey!'

"Hmm?" He looked over his shoulder and saw the girl making some weird movements with her hands, but once again shrugged. Takashi walked towards Sergio and just as he wanted to open his mouth he felt something grab him. Faster than ever he turned around to react, only to see Rei in front of him.

"R-rei?" He wanted to pull his hand back, for the last thing which he needed was more love drama, but something withheld him from that. He felt her soft squeeze and realized quickly enough that this was no stupid trick of her. The girl was scared, genuinely so, and if he would bitch at her right now… God knows what could go wrong.

"This isn't right… and it's all my fault…" She whispered. Partly aimed at nobody, and partly at Takashi.

Not sure what to do, he squeezed her hand back and gave her an unseen smile. "No worries , it's just the girl from the new group." He gently pulled her towards the direction where Sergio had been yelling a few minutes back. But as he looked at him again, he was worried when he saw him squeezing his eyes in a vague attempt to spot something.

"Singh-kun… what's up?"

"Pass me my flashlight… quick…" He gestured with his hand and opened his palm for Takashi to put the torch in it.

"It's still in the room, here, use mine." He passed his own flashlight to the boy and once more looked at Rei. Whom stared down the hallway now as well yet appeared to see nothing. Come to think of it… he didn't see anything either. Either that guy had better eyes than him and her, or there was simply nothing.

Once again he comforted the girl next to him by squeezing her clam and shaking hand. He had to admit… his own legs were softly shaking as well.

"Bah… how the hell does this one work? Jesus… Fuck, ugh… how hard can it be." Sergio appeared to be struggling with this model of flashlight. Instead of having a simple button, its head had to be turned to turn it on, and that was something which he could not see in this dark.

In the blur of the moment he looked up for barely a second, but that was enough. Takashi's first thought had been right, this guy had better eyes than him and Rei. His facial expressions switched from angry, to incredibly scared within seconds.

"T-t-tTakashi… R-Rei… we need to get away from here." He whispered softly, for he was by now well aware that sound attracted them.

"What do you mean? This is not funny". Rei threw back at him, still convinced that she would see the face of an allied girl within seconds.

"I'm not j…"

"Then what's the matter?" Takashi asked annoyed, snatching the flashlight from Sergio's hands. Before he could even turn it on he saw something moving in the darkness as well.

It was slow…

It was without noise….

Worst of all, it was hanging on the ceiling.

"Shit…" Before he could even yell he remember something climbing up the building. Back when his mother had gone searching for Saeko and Alice… back when he was spacing out and looking in the sun… He remembered it all right now. That hadn't been his eyes playing tricks on him because of the sun… it had been one of Them. And not just any… No…

"Run…." He whispered at first, letting loose of Rei's hand he went for his baseball bat.

"What?" She asked.

"RUN! I SAID! RUN NOW! SERGIO! WE COVER HER!"

"G-g-g-got ya…" The boy stuttered, as he grabbed his rather large combat knife in his hand.

Even though Takashi had yelled, the monster didn't increase his pace. It just kept on climbing slowly towards them.

Hand by hand, step by step. It seemed to pose no danger. That was…. Up until they actually began to back off.

Rei, as ordered by her leader, was the first to turn around, but before she could even start to run an incredibly loud shrieking noise drilled her skull through her ears. She wasn't the only one whom heard this, for Takashi and Sergio were closing their eyes and gritting their teeth as well.

"I SAID RUN! NOW! " Takashi yelled, as he turned around and pushed Rei forward. Followed by Sergio everything seemed to slow down.

Their running footsteps covered the hallway, yet was outdone by a loud crash. That … thing, had jumped from the ceiling and was now in hot pursuit.

"GO GO GO! GET TO THE HALL!"

**-The main hall-**

"Did you hear that?" Kohta asked just as he tried to get a meal from the microwave. A high pitched knifing noise reached his ears. Obviously Saya heard it as well, for she looked at the door through which Takashi and Rei had left before.

"Y-yeah…." The girl stood up from her chair and made her way towards the chubby kid. "Could it be that…"

"What the… They're moving towards us!" A voice suddenly yelled. It came from the barricaded windows and it apparently was Ilya. He was looking through the wooden boards and seemed to go for his weapon.

"Chyort…Everyone! Prepare to Fight! They are moving towards us!"

Within the blink of an eye their calm life had ended. Anton came storming out of the hallway where he had been with Kaori, the latter whom followed close behind.

"Ilya, what do you mean?! " He didn't have to ask twice or he saw the hordes of them coming towards the windows, ever so slowly.

"Shit, shit shit shit SHIT! KAORI-KUN! GET KANAME TO SAFETY NOW!"

"We can fight!" The girl threw back. It was true… she could fight, the same could not be said for the other girl whom had survived.  
'I know you can..." Anton spoke, on a softer tone now. "That's why you need to stay with Kaname and… and…. And that girl and the nurse!" He ordered the raven haired woman. "Defend them!" Without even waiting for a response he ran to join Ilya, but was quickly distracted when both his tall friend and his shorter indigo haired friend intercepted his course.

"Jasper… Saeko-kun… What happened?" He saw that neither of them had any idea therefore he decided that is was best not to pay too much attention to it. They were under attack… that was all that mattered.

"Anton-san! " Saeko yelled before the guy ran towards the windows.

"Yeah, what's up?" He asked in a hurry. If it hadn't been Saeko he would have ignored that cry completely.

"Takashi-kun, Singh-kun and Miyamoto haven't returned yet… We can't leave that to chance…" She saw that she had made a point for he moved his eyes across the entrance hall to confirm it.

"Shit… We don't have time for this…"

Seeing the doubt in his eyes and feeling the hunger in her belly, she wanted nothing more than to reply that she would go and search for them. Though before even a single syllable had left her tender lips it was the other boy whom replied.

"Í'll search for them… Kaname said that they were developing pictures in the dark room… I have seen that with Segio when we arrived here…" The tall brown haired bloke spoke as he held his fire axe firmly in his big hands.

"Right… be quick about it, we need you guys here. Saeko-kun, let's go." Without waiting for one second more he ran towards his friend at the window. Whatever would happen, he felt that he was the leader and carried that responsibility.

His indigo haired friend felt stupid instead. She should be searching for her boyfriend right now… Yet because of her slow nature she had placed that objective in the hands of a stranger now. Yes, the tall guy was nice, but she did not trust him with Takashi's life yet. Not even with Miyamoto's life…

_Takashi-kun… I doubt we'll be alone today will we? _She thought to herself, softly chuckling at the thought of never being loved by Takashi in the same way as before ever again.

"This isn't the time for that Saeko… get yourself together." The samurai girl whispered to herself. Unsheathing her hungry blade she made her way towards the windows as well.

As Saeko made her way to the group of guys with soft yet agile steps there were only two things which were going through her enigmatic mind.

The first was Takashi…. Yes, she was being desperate now, but she had never felt a feeling like this before. And the last thing she wanted was to lose him already.

The second was something more… gruesome. Her mind was getting more fragile with each passing day. At one point she had been the pride of the group when it came to sanity… that was quickly changing.

Kohta and Saya greeted her when she arrived. But instead of replying in a proper fashion, there was but one thing that left her mouth. All thought it went unheard, the fact that she was already saying things like this was … bad.

"Once again… They'll all be dead."

_**Right, that wraps things up for this chapter.**_

_**Hmm, this took me a long time. For three reasons.**_

_**I had exams.**_

_**I just didn't feel like writing in a hurry.**_

_**I was thinking of writing something else for a bit. But since yesterday, I go back in this story.**_

_**About this entire change of pace… The thing in the hallways, is one of those awesome ghoul like zomie thing. I figured that their scream would lure Them towards it, hence the attack. Maybe you folks won't like it, but I sure as hell like the thought of some sort of vaguely… -intelligent- creatures amongst them. **_

_**If only to make it all a bit more versatile. UHm… what more is there to say? **_

_**Thanks once more to Il-rev for letting me use his character and character sketches. As well for his basic Russian templates. **_

_**Hmm.. is there anything else to add? Well, I really want to write a dark souls fanfcition. Not many people will read it, but I don't really care. I just need a change of pace. But, as said before, that will be left for another day!**_

_**I love you all! Ill try to make the next wait shorter.**_

_**33 3… ( Sorry. xD Just letting myself go here. Herherm… pickles.)**_

_**Yours sincerely,**_

_**Yamucha-san.**_


	10. They will all be dead

_I tried to bring this one out a tad faster. Whether I succeeded or not… well that depends on when you read this ,… No? Not funny?... Sorry._

_I do not own highschool of the dead, all rights belong to its original author and animators._

_**Act 10: They will all be dead.**_

"Shhh, don't make a noise…." The burly Russian guy commanded the people around him. It felt weird for everyone. The three newcomers had some serious trouble with taking orders from a new guy. Saya had expressed her unwillingness to do as he said, due to an immediate tactical error in her eyes. After a short discussion with the second newcomer Ilya she eventually settled for this chain of command until Takashi returned.

When she mentioned her leader and friend both Kohta and Saeko felt distressed. It had been ten minutes since that tall guy had gone to search for them and they hadn't heard anything after that. They would go and search for their comrades, were it not for the approaching hordes of Them. Up until now they didn't seem all too hostile, they were simply moving towards the windows after that ear shredding shriek from before.

Saeko had, together with Anton and Kohta , the main door and the few softly barricaded windows covered. Seeing that Saya and Ilya really weren't getting along, they did not want to take risks and divided the left and right windows amongst the two younglings. They could talk out loud, for they had been spotted anyways, nor did they get the feeling the hordes were coming towards them. It was weird but the majority of Them seemed to concentrate towards one single point, therefore the concentrations of the defense was positioned at that place.

"Saeko-kun… Don't you have a pistol or anything?" Anton remarked as he saw his childhood friend with a –mere- katana.

Looking away from the window she let go of the wooden board that the girl had used to keep her balance. "Hmm? No, this will suffice."

"Look… I know that you are good with a blade but… erm… we are kind of trying to keep them out of the building. " He had absolutely no evil intentions, he was just trying to lighten the mood.

"I don't know how to handle a gun.." She was silent, waiting for an answer, but when she did not get one the girl talked on. "Don't worry, we have the ranged combat part covered." Saeko saw the Russian bloke looking surprised at her sparkling eyes. And when she looked at Kohta he was even more surprised. Was he to believe that such a innocent looking guy was a crackshot?

"Erm… Really?"

The chubby guy himself at first did not really feel comfortable in his current situation. Yet as soon as the word gun was mentioned the two survivors had caught his attention.

"Y-yeah, I am pretty good with firearms. I had some training back in America." He shyly added.

"Well then… I'll be the last complain about that. It's great to have at least two experienced people on our side. " His vaguely white eyes seemed to be shaking in concern. Over his shoulder he looked at his girl friend, whom was trying to keep order amongst Alice, whom was protesting and afraid, and Shizuka, whom was simply trying to get the safety of her pistol. Really… one might think she would know how to do so by now… And last but not least, Kaname. The latter whom had learned to put her trust in the raven haired ninja by now.

The frontal defense was, all in all, doing pretty well. Morale was decent and there was no short of able bodies. Sure, if the entire horde would break through in one go, they'd get swarmed. But the defense was as of now standing firmly, and nothing would come through easily.

The real problem however, was the threat on the inside. Unknown to the youthful spirits in the main entrance, there was a semi-intelligent one of Them inside their very walls. Worse yet, was that it was currently chasing their friends with an as of yet unknown kind of hunger.

The indigo haired girl was, along with Saya and Kohta, were genuinely worried about their leader. The latter two were also genuinely worried about Rei.

"Takashi.." For a bit Saeko turned around to check the door through which the three souls had left in their search for that dark room. There was nothing… the door was open, thus she was sure the big guy was searching for them, but it wasn't enough.

She was worried, incredibly so, and although she would never in her life admit it, it wasn't just for Takashi and Sergio.

"Busujima-san.." Kohta spoke before announcing his thoughts. "Something is in there… I was sure I heard something."

The katana wielding beauty looked at her friends eyes and saw in his chestnut eyes the same fear which she was experiencing. "You heard it as well?"

"Y-yeah… It was vague and barely there but…"

"What are you two talking about?!' Anton suddenly spoke quite loudly.

"It's not safe… something is in the building, Anton-san." Kohta spoke, still feeling uneasy with the big muscled Russian.

"What are you talking about?! I thought your group had made sure this place was safe?!'

"We have…" Saeko added, immediately calming the guy down. Squeezing her own arm she tried to justify the fact that they had been sloppy, and were now going to pay for it. "It must have snuck in."

"Impossible… all doors were locked, none of those vermin is smart enough to SNEAK in." He spoke with a lot of sarcasm, now catching the attention of his smaller friend as well.

"What's the matter? Why aren't you guarding the windows properly Antwan?" Ilya spoke.

"… It's not Antwan you twat… stop calling me that." His leader snarled back.

"Hehehe, fair enough."

"Just watch the windows already… this is no time to be messing around." The new leader spoke with a heavy voice as he himself checked the barricaded door one last time.

It was Hirano whom had the first encounter. A lifeless yet incredibly firm hand had grabbed one of the wooden boards and in one subtle and slow pull had it ripped from the window. It was frightening to see that even when the splinters severed its eye yolks it simply kept going. No moan, no groan no nothing.

"UHm, guys. They're here."

"I noticed… Don't shoot, you know what to do…"

"I… I suppose." The chubby marksman frowned. This did not feel right at all. But for now he would do as he was told, it was the best plan anyways. He grabbed machete he had gained from the new people, raised his tired arms and flew the blade forward. It wasn't hard for him to pierce the outdated skin of Them, even the skull seemed to give away way too easily. Kohta did not mind it going down easily, but this was one of the few moments where he had to stand face to face with his enemy. He could see their eyes staring lifeless and emotionless in front of them, not even at him. And when it fell to the ground, it was simply replaced by another one… an endless horde hungry for his pale and dusty flesh.

Hirano repeated his process, and once again felt his eyes twitching and his teeth grinding when yet another skull cracked and another body fell even more lifeless to the ground.

One more…

Two…

Three…

Four, five , six…. The boy was starting to pant now, and did not realize that Ilya on the left side of the room was having trouble defending the three most left windows.

To his right Saya was sparring with the windows as well. There were only a few of them, but one had managed to sneak past her glowing eyes and had almost come inside. Fortunately the genius was an actual genius and hag managed to trap it in the barricades for it to be dealt with later.

Saya herself had a weapon similar to that of Rei back on Tokonosu highschool. A broom with a steel tip. It wasn't a first class weapon, in fact it was rather useless in her hands. Yet… for now, it got the job done.

"*panting* Why don't you stay down!" She once again thrust the weapon forwards and heard the squishy sound of her brooms' point in its brain. She twisted and curled her hand but it simply would not fall. Instead of dying for good, it kept pulling on the boards.

…

…

Where these things getting tougher?

In front of the main door where Anton and Saeko. They were busy enough with trying to keep their makeshift barricade from tumbling.

This had come too sudden and they knew it, yet neither of them had the guts to call the retreat already.

It was easy enough for saeko to slice off a hand which threatened to reach the door knob. Not that the door wasn't locked, but she simply did it out of reflex. The girl stood straight on her legs and did not really seem to pay a lot of attention to what was happening around her. Her mind was focused on keeping this door shut, or go and make a run for her leader.

The big bulky Russian next to her noticed her swaying mind and lifeless attitude though. He had remember her a little bit more… passionate, about fighting.

"Saeko-kun… what's wrong?" He whispered out as he replaced the wooden support of the door.

"Hmm? Nothing. Just doing what we should be doing."

"Yeah and you're doing great but…"

"ANTON! No talking dammit! Ugh, this is getting nasty!" Ilya yelled as he saw his friend trying to talk with that big boobed stunning katana wielding beauty.

"Shut it yourself! One is coming through!" He snarled back with a grin. Yep… he had learned not to hide the fact that he loved the thrill of the fight. The thrill of his life being on the line, where everything either turns out to be good, or bad, excited him.

"Anton… They still have not come back…" Saeko spoke.

"Don't worry… Jasper is on it."

"That's what worries me, he was so eager to find them that he might be careless and…."

"Saeko, you think too much. I know you like that boy, but he will be all right." He saw her stopping in her steps when he said that. It was rather obvious no? Had she really thought that he did not know yet? "Besides, you have not seen Jasper fight. I'd say he might be tougher than me…"

Whether his last words were merely to comfort her he did not know. But what he did know was that his tall friend was strong, and indeed, maybe stronger than him. But he also knew that he was reckless, in a bad way.

"… Yeah, yeah I hope so." She sliced of yet another pair of hands as the door began to seriously crack. It began to become quite cold as well, she even thought she saw her own breath for a bit.

Would she be the life saver and tell them to fall back and get the hell out of this country? That was quickly answered with a firm no, as she licked her lips at the sight of her shiny steel katana slicing an arm straight open from its palm to its elbow.

_**Further down the main hall.**_

"I don't want to go! I want to see the rest!" The little girl yelled as she clamped Shizuka's leg. The latter whom had finally managed to ready her pistol was protecting the girl by patting her head.

"Calm down… I did not mean what I said…" The raven girl spoke as she had her wakizashi (*Note. That a wakizashi is a shorter form of a katana. Often used by the Ninjas of the stories.* ) in her left hand.

"You still said it…" The blonde nurse added with an offensive snarl.

"Ugh… Yeah I did, I thought it'd help with getting the little child in safety… I was wrong. Look… I'm sorry all right?" The raven ninja stuttered out as she really did not know how to deal with these people. She was supposed to be fighting at the front, not play a babysitter.

'Hmpf…" The little child puffed out. But the nurse was mature enough to accept it and smiled.

"Kaori-chan, we can defend ourselves perfectly without your firm tone. "

Looking towards the clumsy standing blonde, the infant and her trusted companion Kaname she merely scoffed.

"That's… not true. Not true at all." She turned her back away from the group, crossed her arms and stared at the entrance. She saw the chaos and the incredible amount of faces of Them through the windows. Yet, unlike the others her face did not change at all. It was just another day in the meat grinder.

"Shizu… What's happening?" Alice asked, as she as well let her big youthful eyes cross the windows.

"Nothing Alice. Just the usual." The woman spoke in her heavy voice. She seemed to have trouble swallowing, but going up there would only prove to be their downfall.

**In the hallways.**

" It's right behind us! RUN FOR FUCKS SAKE! WE CANNOT FIGHT IT HERE!" Takashi And Sergio yelled somewhat at the same time as they were trying to remember the place they had come in from. It was a one minute sprint if they would know how to run, yet the latter was the problem. Where the hell where they?

"Rei hurry up!' The young leader yelled in vain, for it was he whom was having trouble keeping up. When he had taken a turn left he had bumped in the wall, crushing an old painting and cutting his arm with the shards of glass. It was a minor injury, and that wasn't the problem. What worried him was that the other two were about two seconds ahead of him. For a mere second he looked over his shoulder and saw that thing coming towards him. It moaned, grunted and groaned some unknown language as it sprinted towards him on its hands and feet. It said words, not understandable, but it said words. It sounded… familiar.

"Oh shit shit shit…." He felt his legs burning and the boards underneath his feet seemed to almost crack each time he planted his weight on one of them. "Shit shit shit shit SHIT SHIT SHIT!" In the moment of looking over his shoulder he had an even bigger gap between him and his ex and possible new friend.

Another turn left, then a quick right…. Was he running in circles? That thing however did not slow down, so he couldn't either. Why on earth hadn't he taken his shotgun with him?! He felt his baseball bat in his palm and he wanted nothing more than to stand and accept the fight. But the boy knew that that was suicide. He had seen this kind before, back at the house of his dearest and by now deceased mother.

"Takashi! Turn right here! It's an exit!" Rei suddenly yelled at him as she came to a sudden stop, made a 90 degree turn, and rushed forwards once more. Her leader has lost sight of both of them now, but he was relieved that there was an exit. There was something very wrong however….the groaning was getting louder and louder…. Could it be that?

He felt the bottom of his baseball bat touch something, could it really be that?!

Time slowed down for him,

Automatically his head turned over his shoulder,

It was too late, he felt his body flying as a firm hand grabbed his ankle.

"F-fuck…." He managed to murmur out mid air. His world turned to black as his face smacked on the wooden boards, sharp things pierced his chin and it was not long before he felt something crawling upon his back.

His eyes flashed open and with all of his strength the rolled his body over, throwing the beast of his shoulder just in time, for he could hear its teeth clashing together barely half a second later.

No time to get up he started to crawl backwards automatically, but quickly found his back against the wall. He heard screams coming from afar, and heard running people, but for him it was too late. One of his hands clenched his sore chin and wiped away some of the blood. Coughing up something which tasted like a vague metallic brew as he saw something flashing in front of him. As if some higher being controlled his arms he grabbed the baseball bat with one hand on each side and placed it in front of his face. An incredible force was placed on his muscles as two firm jaws clenched itself around the steel bat. He felt salvia flying in his face but that was the last thing he was worried about now. With all his force he tried to push the beast back, but his already blurry vision became even worse as his elbows were pushed against the wall. He heard teeth being crushed by the steel, he even heard flesh being slashed open, was it literally severing its own cheeks in this burst of violence?

All that stood between his life, and becoming a foul thing where the bones in his arm. And it felt as if they were snapping anytime now.

The boy groaned…. He was just 17, this could not be the end.. Not like this…. Not whilst running away….

"Hnnnnnnggggg" Once more he tried to push forwards, but his chest and biceps, triceps and wrists simply could not move forwards. The horrible smell of its hungry mouth got worse and worse, he still heard yelling in the background but it was too late anyways.

"R-r-Rei…." He heard the girl yelling, she was coming back. Somewhere in the back of his head he had thought she'd leave him be… Well,… it was the thought that counted. A little bit too late now.

He felt his hands snap, one of his fingers must have given in as a sharp pain raced from his hand all the way up to his already battered spine.

It hurt…. It hurt like hell. He wanted to scream but salvia and blood filled his aching throat. Did the fall cut his air tube? It couldn't be… he'd be done for.

Once again images began flashing through his brain, but this time it was cut off quickly. Something was inside of him…literally… he didn't know what nor did he care. It hurt…. As if he hadn't had it bad enough. This time however… voices did come out of his mouth. And not just a bit, he yelled, it hurt. The thing had pierced his skin and clothing and was literally grasping for his guts.

"ARGH,"

His eyes closed, and even that hurt him. Yet there was something which he did not see coming at all. He did not know who or what, but suddenly he was relieved of it all. He heard a male voice grunting some sort of battle cry. Had it shot the thing? Killed it? No, not anything as good. He could not see whom it was, nor did he care. He felt himself being pulled on his feet by two hands. One voice he recognized as Rei, whom was the other? Sergio? A new kid, putting his life on the line for him? "Hehe…" Were his last words before leaving this world completely. He fell unconscious… something which he would regret later on. Very much so.

"Do you have him?! MIYAMOTO?!" Singh spoke as he was itching to help his friend in the fight against that thing.

"Y-yes…" The girl stuttered as she felt Takashi's weight leaning on her. When Sergio let go of her ex she almost tumbled further down. Her legs still supported her though, and even though her sweaty and tired body wanted nothing more than to lay this weight down and run, she could not do that. Her arms went around Takashi's weight as her perilous twenty meter tour began. Just behind her she could hear the two guys fighting that thing…. Were they winning? Or were they sacrificing two lives for one?

"I can't look back now…. Come on Rei, you can do this. Takashi… Come on…. TAKASHI!" She yelled when she saw his red liquor of life running from his mouth and tummy. "I need to hurry….Where is Shizuka?!"

"FUCK STAY DOWN! YOU FUCKING PIECE OF! ARGH" It was the tall guy, Jasper, whom had tackled the beast from Takashi and carried on by trying to land a hit with his stained fire axe. He had taken a wrong turn before but had came rushing back as he heard the screams and violence coming from behind him.

So far he had landed one hit on its head but had failed to crush the skull, let alone damage the brain. And as if that wasn't enough, this thing actually seemed to know how to do some basic dodges, for it kept back stepping.

"Holy shit… this thing is quick…." The tall guy panted out as his fire axe hit the air instead of his target. Whatever this thing was, it seemed to be scared. For it didn't attack, it merely backed off. It either was hatching a plan, or it did not know how to fight back once spotted and opposed.

There was some good news however, as a second human joined the fight. A knife was thrown and flew towards the abomination and the cold steel found a way though its already outdated skin. But both of the young lads knew, that a knife in the tummy would do no harm to these things. Let alone a special one like this.

"Segio, God am I glad to see you. What the hell happened?" He asked whilst regaining his breath.

"No time to talk, come, we can't fight this thing." He smaller of the two spoke with a firm tone as he pulled the arm of the taller guy towards the door. Frankly enough, the thing did not follow them, but instead seemed crawl back into the shadows of the corridors.

"We can't just go! If we do not take it down now it will come back for us tomorrow!" Jasper grunted as he pulled his arm loose and once again grabbed his weapon in two hands.

"I know! But all that matters now is to regroup! We cannot do this on our own!" Segio yelled back, and for a bit the two seemed to be able to pull each other's head clean off. Yet, after five seconds, the older one of the two nodded, chuckled and walked back along with his shorter friend.

Both of them pretending to have let their guard down, both of them eager and both of them hungry for the blood of this thing.

They heard something running behind them, they grabbed their weapons and the game was on. Now it was just a matter of playing their role better than the opponent.

**Main hall: **

" TAKASHI?!" Shizuka screamed as soon as her eyes came across Rei and the bleeding guy. Without thinking about what the raven Kaori had said before she sprinted off to her leader, however weird that sounded for an adult like her. Alice and Zeke quickly followed, leaving the two new girls behind at the so called –microwave-.

As soon as the blonde nurse had reached the boy, Rei collapsed on her knees and tumbled to the ground with Takashi still in her arms. She was able to keep him from falling with his head on the ground, but as soon as she saw the puddle of blood she realized that this was no trivial wound. Obviously, that would have been easy to see if she had had the chance, but all she had been doing was running away with a guy leaning on her shoulder.

"What the hell happened?!" Shizuka yelled at Rei. The mature woman grasped the teenager from the red head's arms and pulled off the clothing which covered his torso. When his black sweater came off and the wound was revealed the woman was silent, Rei gasped and the little girl squealed.

Instead of a clean scratch this was a grotesque gap just below the right side of his ribcage. It was not just that, it was his swelling throat as well. Soft gurgles kept coming from his mouth but that was it. It goes without saying that panic was spreading throughout the compound.

Shit hit the van however, when the three youngest ones at the front door saw their leader. Saya was the first to notice the commotion behind her back. She was regaining her breath and clamping heavily to her hurt arm, the sweat on her smooth skin burned on the still throbbing bullet wound. For a second she looked over her shoulder and saw the group standing around a body which was laying motionless on the ground. In-between each exhale it slowly came to her mind that that person might very well be Takashi. In fact, it became pretty clear to her when she saw both Shizuka and Rei leaning over the body, and Alice standing right behind the two older females. The fact that it might have been one of the two new guys didn't even cross her mind. Something snapped in her and she wasn't even sure what or why. Normally she could have labeled it but this time… no, no something was wrong. She knew she didn't love Takashi, that much had become clear over the years. Sure, she had taken a liking in the guy, and she knew perfectly well that feeling was mutual, but it wasn't love.

She'd never lost it before really. There was this one time, at her very own home. She had given the group a speech about her parents not being there for her. And then… Takashi came, and was there for her. She had to be there for him now as well…

After all, they might just be best friends. No it surpassed that, they had, over their short lives, become soul mates.

T'was most likely one of these reasons which caused her to fall back from the barricade and tend to her friend. Her vision blurred and she simply felt a shout coming up in her pale and sore throath.

"T… TAKASHI?!' Saya shrieked out, obviously catching the attention of the others.

Anton saw her light feet running away from the windows, and not long after Saya's tactical blunder the first few of them came stumbling through the by now shattered glass and snapped board. "SAYA-KUN! GET BACK DAMMIT!" The russsian brawler knew pretty quickly however, that he had no control over her. Nor Saeko and Hirano, whom were quick to follow.

This place was lost, they had not even been here for 24 hours and it had already been lost. "For fucks sake…" But instead of worrying about Takashi, he barely even noticed it, his mind was worried about his own couple of friends, whom were still not visible. "Sergio was with them right? And Jasper…. Shit… shit shit SHIT! ILYA! FALL BACK!"

Hirano heard the yells behind him. He also heard the door which not long after was lifted out of its hinges and fell face down on the floor with a loud –boom-. He didn't look back however, he heard Saya shriek and he saw his friend laying on the ground. Takashi had not only given him a group to call family, he had also been one of the first actual friends he had ever had. Sure… he had –friends-, but none of them were ever worthy to put down his life for. Takashi however, was worthy. And seeing both his crush, and his friend like this drove him to drop his duty of guarding the door.

He was now going to attend to his duty as a friend.

As for Miss Busujima? Do the words really need to be repeated? She loved him with all her heart. She'd lay down her life for every single member in the party, but only for Takashi she would come back from hell to make sure he'd be alive.

For the first time in her life she had almost cut her own leg by trying to sheet her blade, but even if she had lost her katana now, that would be nothing to worry about at all.

Once again, all that mattered was her boyfriend's life.

Nothing spells out doom better than a nigh dead person in front of you, hordes of Them behind you, and two missing companions somewhere in the building with a killer beast.

And that was exactly what was going on right now, summed up that is.

The next half hour flew by faster than a formula 1 racing car.

Both Jasper and Sergio came running from the hallways now as well. Nothing seemed wrong until they reached the group. Jasper, the taller of the two clenched heavily to his chest and was yelled at by Anton for letting himself be cut by one of Them. The giant in return yelled back in fury that this wasn't a normal creature, this was even more insane.

All of their bickering got them nowhere though, for they had no time to rest, grieve or heal. They had to make a run for it, and fast.

The strongest of the group were commanded to take point and take out all of them that would stand in the way. Anton kicked open the door and immediately yelled: "GET ON A BIG SAILING BOAT! NOW! I'LL TAKE REAR GUARD!" Takashi, whom was being carried by both Rei and Hirano was the center of the running group. His eyelids were still firmly closed and fortunately for him, he did not see the corpse of his mother which was still lying on the ground. Even worse was that it had been surrounded by a couple of Them, whom were most likely enjoying the fresh and juicy flesh and entrails of the once proud and honest Suki, mother of Takashi, and teacher to the kids.

None of them really noticed the body, except for little Alice, whom immediately closed her eyes and kept on running with the dog in her innocent hands. Rei was too busy carrying the body of her ex to really pay attention to it, but her eyes did cross the body for a few subtle seconds. Shizuka had taken no notice, and only Saya recognized the body as Suki. Of course it was a shock to her, but right now there was no time to mourn let alone give it much thought.

Saeko didn't want to look at it. She might just be losing Takashi because of that corpse.

They passed a lot of little boats and, prestigious ships until Ilya and Sergio made a sudden quick turn on a walking plank. They did not walk onboard yet though, but instead waited patiently for the group to gather after dealing with a single straggler.

For the time being they were relatively safe. A few seconds later everyone had gathered in front of a big white sailing vessel. Whether it would work or not was of no importance, all they needed to do now was get on that boat and drift away from the port. That way they would definitely be safe.

With a heavy voice and obvious exhaustion it was Anton whom spoke first. Not because everyone wanted it, but right now it felt like the only way to go for the group. They needed a goal, and he was giving them one at this point.

"Get on the ship already! Me and Ilya will distract them!" He yelled out with a heavy voice. It's not that he wanted to be strict, it was that he felt he had to. It were their life's that were on the line dammit. Without waiting for an answer he already walked towards the main horde of them. He felt the urge to smash a few of them, and any straggler would do. And if it hadn't been for the hand on his shoulder he would surely have stormed in. As his face turned around he noticed that it were both Busujima and Ilya whom were standing behind him. Truth to be told, he was rather mad at Saeko for abandoning the barricade, yet he could not find himself to be angry at his long lost friend.

"Saeko-kun… you should stay with Takashi. He needs your protection more than I." He muttered out with a smile on his face.

"He does… and I am going to help him by making sure he gets safely on that walking plank." She nodded her head towards Rei and Sergio, whom were having trouble balancing themselves on the walk plank. Both Shizuka and Alice had already sprinted on the boat and were trying to help by screaming at the carrying donkeys.

Behind them were Kaname, Kaori, Jasper, Saya and Hirano. All of them eager to get on board as well but they would have to wait.

"Anton." Ilya intervened before he could reply to Saeko. "Since when do we reject help anyways, besides, that chick can fight." He jokingly spoke, though obviously it was the truth.

Her eyes snarled at the guy but her mouth remained close. She was definitely not used to being talked at like this. With her blade in her hand she once again turned to Anton, whom at his turn nodded at her.

"You're right… Well then, let's do this!" Without hesitation he grabbed a revolver from his belt and held a baseball bat in his other hand. Followed by Ilya, whom was patiently toying with his little switchblade before switching to a more decent sized cricket bat.

The indigo haired woman however, could not focus entirely. She once again looked over her shoulder and felt as if she had to be with Takashi. This very morning he had made her feel good by promising to talk with her somewhere later this day, but now that promise could definitely not be held. Of course she did not blame him, that would be insane. But it saddened her very much. In fact, it was bad enough for her that, very softly, she cursed. It was not hearable, let alone an all too bad word. But for such a stoic girl as Saeko? It was a big deal.

"God be damned…" her eyes closed and her fists clenched, and in a flash her fighting instinct was fueled to an incredible level. Her small feet walked past both the grumpy joker, and her burly friend.

She heard Anton yelling from behind her, he was trying to form a plan but once again she was rushing off.

"Saeko-kun! What are you doing?!" He asked her quickly whilst grabbing her slender wrists. Before he could even get a decent grip on her she had already pulled back her own arm and spoke to him without allowing him to see her eyes.

"Me? " She asked.

" Doh… who else." Ilya spoke as he as well walked a few steps towards the approaching horde.

"Shut up Ilya… we can't just rush in. We need to divide our strength… Saeko?!" He once again wanted to grab her arm but was quickly stopped by a blade just in front of his face. He wasn't scared, he knew she would not harm him… at least that's what he was convinced off. Ilya at his turn tried to charge at Saeko but was quickly stopped by his friend by a gesture of his hand.

"Saeko… what are you thinking?!" He asked her calmly as he observed her shivering body, clenched fists and shaking hands.

Struggling to maintain her personality she lowered her blade short after. Ï'm… I'm…" Her pale face once again looked ever her right shoulder. It was when he looked in her eyes that Anton as well noticed that the outbreak had affected her a lot worse than he had ever imagined.

A small stream of salty tears came from one eye, yet sadness was not what was shining from her eyes. It was insanity. This girl… was on the brink.

"Saeko-k…." was all he could mutter out. He saw the loads of them being about twenty meters away from them. "It's about Takashi right? Don't worry he'll be all right…" He tried to comfort her, but he had no clue about Saeko anymore. It had been so long since they had been good friends… she had changed. And he was not quite sure if it was for the better.

"Yes." She muttered out. "And I'm going to protect him." She grabbed the handle of her blade in two hands and made her first step forwards.

"Saeko-kun! You're not going to…." Once again the Russian bloke was interrupted.

No one except Ilya and Anton were seeing this, but that girl was about to rush in and go head to head with a full horde of them.

"Yes Anton-san." She spoke calmy. It was the silence before the storm because two seconds later her eyes sprung open, she took her stance and spoke the last few words before the carnage would start.

" Yes…I'm going to slaughter them all. Butcher them and slice them… They'll all be dead. "

_THAT was it. And sorry for the long time of no updates. I was taking a break in the hopes that that would rekindle my love for this story. I obviously still want to write it, but I just don't feel like it as much anymore. _

_I want to be writing a dark souls fanfiction, or a warhammer 40k one. But I do not quite yet feel like writing two pieces at the same time yet._

_This story will be finished, no worries. I just have to be able to keep on writing._

_I have my plans cut out for me and I have the end decided. Now it's all just a matter of sitting it out!_

_(Does anyone possible know something which helps with rekindling your love for your own story again?)_

_Thanks for your patience!_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Yamucha-san._


	11. It would revive the dead

_Woop. I have nothing to say in front this time….but I feel like I need to say something. I just did that didn't I? Yay!_

_I do not own highschool of the dead. All right belong to its original author and animators._

**Chapter 11:**

"Takashi, you're late." A vague voice spoke to the sleeping boy.

"Hmm… No I'm not…."

"Don't backtalk me young man! Your father is waiting for you outside!"

"Ugh… fine. Jees." Without even knowing his movements he suddenly felt himself putting on clothes over his naked body. Regular black jeans over his red boxers. A small sized shirt over his torso with a character throwing fireballs on it.

He vaguely seemed to recall that shirt in the back of his head. He wore that when he was six…. Wait? He looked at his hands and saw his white, smooth and hairless arms. Not that he had a whole lot of arm hair, but now it was absolutely nothing. Looking up at his closet he noticed the door knobs being at about the height of his eyes. Was he… a child again?

"What the hell…?!"

Before he could even make a bit of sense of it all he found himself outside with a remote in his hands. His little fingers were joyfully pressing buttons and moving a small lever from left to right.

As he looked up in the air he could see a small airplane flying over the garden. It became obvious to him that he was controlling it. It brought a smile to his face, yet questions to his brain.

_What is going on… Everything is so blurry… I'm a child right? Six years old? Then why do I feel myself like a teenager? Somehow it feels like I am not controlling this place. It feels like…_

He was shaken awake to his child form by a hand on his little shoulders. A heavy and kind voice reached his ears before he was lifted up in the air.

His soft child's voice squealed as his legs were now swinging in the air.

"That's my boy. You'll grow up to be a pilot right? Just like your old man?"

When Takashi wanted to turn his head to see the voice he was more scared than relieved when he actually did so. It was his father behind him right? His chestnut eyes crossed with his dad's dark yet cheerful eyes. Was that a sight to be sad about? No it really wasn't, thus without having control over it he smiled and nodded.

He would become a pilot, just as his old man.

A hand went for his head and stroke his at this time short hair with a friendly force. "Yeah… yeah you handle this plane like a pro."

His eyes closed as he wanted to nod and agree, but he was greeted by a Red and blue blur upon opening his eyes.

Two unkown female voices and one unkown male voice were all he could define.

"**Will he be all right?"** Spoke a soft and sobbing guy's voice.

"**He's stable… but this wound won't stop beelding**."

After this the second female voice began speaking, on a louder and more guilty tone.

"**It's all my fault… me and that new kid should have been there for him but we ran ahead… Oh Takashi…. I'm so sorry! I'm so damned sorry!" ** He thought something grabbed him but could not bring up the energy nor the will to figure out what or whom as his mind once again swayed.

This time he saw a lot of people. Cheerful people, sad ones and sinister individuals.

He realized he was sitting on smooth plastic and steel frame, normally called a chair.

_For fucks sake… not again… I… I…. Wait, I can think again? What's going on…?_

He rubbed his eyes and felt a poke in his side which made his body fly up in the air. His face turned to his right and he was face to face with the pink haired girl he knew all too well.

Was he able to speak?

"S-saya-san?!" Apparently he was, but it felt strange to hear his own childish voice like this. How old was he here anyways?

"Takashi! Why were you late again today?!" The girl yelled in a shrieking high girlish voice.

"I…. I… don't know…" Was he late? How on earth was he supposed to know why he had been late so many years ago?! He did not even remember this break anyways.

As he was pondering about all these things another girl voice, from his left this time, interrupted the swearing Saya. As Takashi's young teenage head now turned to see the new voice he recognized it as Rei's voice pretty soon enough. After all… it had barely changed. It still held that undertone of trust, joy and bossiness.

"Takashi wasn't late! He was helping the janitors with cleaning the lockers." She yelled as she wrapped her frail teenage body around his arm, almost pulling the dazzled boy from his seat.

"Y-yeah I was! Thanks Rei.." He felt a smile coming up as he saw his ex girlfriend hugging his arm and pressing her cheeks against his barely present biceps. Apparently it was summer for he was wearing nothing more than a pair of grey shorts, sneakers of a brand he did not even remember and a way too large dark green shirt. Where was his uniform then?

Rei and Saya were obviously wearing them, so it was quite strange to him. When he looked around he saw that most of the guys were wearing the casual black school uniform as well. Most of them… except a few.

Before he could even access the situation again he noticed a blonde and young lad taking place just in front of him. Morita?! He eyes tired yet joyful as always as he carried along his guitar. At this time it was just a cheap thing from a local toy store, but it taught him the basics nevertheless.

"Takashi… Next time you distract everyone okay…." He spoke as he rested his head on his pale and bony hands before regaining his breath.

Even at this stage the little boy already felt the eyes pierce his heart. Both Rei and Saya had the same question. What the hell had he been doing? Even though he wanted to answer he could not. His mouth once more began to move automatically as well as his face. He was scanning the aula for something, or somebody.

His eyes quickly found their first target. A short, fat kid, sitting in the corner of the aula with just one other person. It appeared to be a very thin girl or guy, he couldn't tell from this distance nor did he really care.

_Kohta-kun? Is that really you? Wow, haha… you lost a lot of body fat already. _ His grin quickly faded however when someone bumped right into the kid and started raging at him. Seeing that was normal in a highschool, but seeing his chubby friend doing nothing back was painful… Instead of pushing the taller but obviously weaker guy back he accepted being punched and scoffed at.

If only Takashi could have moved from his chair, but instead he found himself glued to it, still talking to Rei, Morita and Saya. By now they were also joined by Hisashi, whom was, at this point Takashi's best friend.

Once more his eyes began scanning the room and had no problems finding their new and last target. Does it really need to be told that he spotted his –future- girlfriend? She sat at a table quite close to his own. Only separated by two more benches. That wasn't special obviously, what was special though was her appearance. She still had her trademark pony, enthralling eyes and vampiric pale skin, yet her lips were different. Pink as always, but there appeared to be a constant smile on her lips. Even her eyes seemed to shine differently. He remembered this appearance back when they had… well, had intercourse. When they walked down the stairs she had eyed equally happy. But that was just one time, back here, in his mind, it seemed to be normal for her. Normal to smile, giggle and softly gossip about certain people. Was it nothing more than a façade? Or was she genuinely a … how could he say it without offending her past self, a normal girl?

It struck him like a lightning bolt when he realized that this was before she had had the run-in with the assailant. Before she had been abused and before she had robbed somebody's life. He wondered though, underneath that juvenile look, if there was still that beautiful samurai named Saeko?

He wondered…

He thought…

And all of the sudden, he woke up. No flashes of light, no metaphors, no nothing. He just woke up.

In one quick movement he sat up and was greeted by a sharp pain in his stomach, and as soon as he wanted to grunt his throat felt sore as well.

"coughing* Argh… shit…." Takashi cursed to himself, unaware that there were two people with him in the room, though only one of them seemed to be able to speak.

"You're awake?" A soft and somber female voice spoke. It reminded him of Saeko, but something sounded different. He'd figure that his girlfriend would have at least been a bit happier to see him.

"Ugh, everything is spinning. Who… are you? Where am I?"

"Kosake Kaori is the name, don't you remember?" The woman spoke as Takashi heard her feet making way towards him. Not long after he felt a soft and clamp hand on his front head. "Your fever has fallen, looks like you girlfriend was right after all."

"My girlfriend? Saeko… "He coughed one last time before his eyes sprung open completely. "Where is she?!"

He was pushed back down by the female in front of him, he was obviously still weak for he did not even have the strength to push back her skinny arms.

"Saeko? You mean Miss Busujima? … Isn't Miyamoto your partner?" The woman named kaori sounded agitated, but nevertheless she redid Takashi's bed sheets and puffed up his pillow.

"Thanks… No.. no Busujima-san.. I mean Saeko-san, is my girlfr…"

"Strange…" Kaori interrupted.

"Why?"

"It's been Miyamoto and Takagi whom have been watching over you the most. I'm sure she has an explanation though… keke." Her sinister giggle at the end did not comfort Takashi at all. Quite the opposite even, he once again sat straight up, this time with a whole lot less pain. What was she talking about?

"Rubbish…"

"No it's the truth. Busujima has been with you for one evening, no more."

"That's long enough then right?" He spoke before wondering for exactly how long he had been out.

"Well… if you think in that way, than yes."

"Look… I…"

"Shh, it's all right. I frankly don't know you good enough to judge. " In a quick movement she pulled open a small curtain, letting the bright sunlight light up the room, blinding Takashi in the process.

"Ugh…." He covered his eyes with his arm and noticed his torso was naked, which of course made him blush and pull up the carpet to cover at least a bit. Not that he was even remotely fat, but it just felt… wrong.

"Keke… no worries. I have been here for the last two days. I've seen enough." Once more she stood before him yet this time the light shone upon the girl. "Erm… I… Pfff" He pouted a bit before laughing in a vain attempt to let this moment pass. As long as she could not see his thoughts he would be fine.

What stood before him was a fairly tall lady, maybe half a head taller than himself. Long raven black hair in a pony tail which reached her hips. Incredibly dark eyes which were brown, yet appeared vaguely purple.

And she… was smiling? She was stunning! In his eyes not as beautiful as the girls he had been with, but that might just be because he did not know her and was sporting a major headache.

"Don't worry keke, your underwear is still on. I'll go and alert your friends… or don't you want me to?" She joked the last few words as she saw his eyes stray from her eyes at a few points. After all, a loose tank top did very little to hide her ample yet subtle bosom.

"I… I…. I'd really like that! Yes… please do whilst I… Ugh… get dressed…" Once more he faked a cough and sat up. Before he could even overcome the pain he already found a dark red shirt and some black jeans being thrown on the bed next to him.

"Here. And please remain calm."

"Tha… and she's gone…" He sat in his room and stared first at the window through which he could see nothing but white light. It was a little round window, didn't you only see those on ships?

Nevertheless he pulled the shirt over his torso with quite a bit of difficulty. At this point he figured he was hearing voices coming from both underneath and above him.

Pulling the jeans over his tired legs his eyes felt on the second bunk bed. Somebody was laying there, but did not seem to be moving., let alone breathing.

"Uhm… hello?" He muttered out.

-silence-.

"Must be asleep…" He tried to stand up but his entire body was vouching against it. He stared at his feet, and tried to wiggle his toe. "Phrew… not paralyzed…"

His head once again turned to the person in the other bed when he heard some weird noises coming from the bed.

It sounded like grunts and gurgling. Whatever it was, it did not sound right in Takashi's mind.

"Oi… Who are you?" He once more tried to stand up, this time helping himself up by grabbing the steel bars which held the bunk bed together.

He was just about to look over to the person in his room when the door flew open. It almost threw him off his feet if he hadn't held the bed with his for now weak hand.

"Takashi!" The all too familiar voice of Rei reached his ears first. Not long after he found himself tackled back on the bed with the crying girl on top of him. "Oh thanks you're all right! Oh thanks thanks thanks!" She pressed her body against him, unaware of both his pain and the position they were in.

"Ugh… Rei… Auuuuu." He exclaimed as her subtle body brushed against his still sore wound. But she wouldn't have anything of it, in fact, she began to sob harder and pressed herself even closer against him. Both to his displeasure, and of course… to his liking. He opened his eyes after embracing and accepting the girl's tears. As he scanned the room he did not only see Rei. Alice and Shizuka were already here. The blonde nurse giggling with her eyes closed and clapping her hands. The little girl simply stared in his eyes. At first she looked sad, but she was most likely just flabbergasted. After a few seconds of awkward eye contact she as well Smiled and not only that. Without thinking of anything she jumped on the bed and joined Rei with hugging him and wasting her body liquid in the form of genuine tears.

Though it was all very cute and it was indeed a precious moment for both Takashi and the girls, he really wanted them to at least get off him.

"Umpgh… y'girls… please, it hurts…" He was greeted by Rei's wet red eyes as she rubbed away her own joy from and rolled off him. Alice following her example, now calling the dog to sit next to her.

"Takashi…" Rei muttered out. "We thought you'd left us…" Her voice full of swallowed tears.

"Haha what?" He laughed, thinking she joked. But upon seeing Miyamoto frown he knew she was not kidding. He pushed himself up a bit, letting his eyes scan on the other bed in which there was no movement anymore. Resting his back against the wall he sighed.

"I don't really remember what happened…" Closing his heavy eyes he tried to inhale through his mouth, but found this to be rather painful. "All I remember is running from that… that… thing? It grabbed my ankle, then it turns black."

When he saw Rei's eyes turning away from his own he knew there was something on her mind. He'd not ask her now with both Shizuka and Alice being in the room as well. But he definitely made a note in his mind, to ask her about it.

"What? You don't even remember fighting against it?" The red head asked in surprise.

"No… I thought I was going to die back there…"

"So did I! But I'm so glad to see you didn't. " Miyamoto's tears began rolling again as her subtle fingers toyed with the fibers of his shirt.

"Nothing gets the better of our leader! Go team Takashi!" Alice yelled out as she jumped on the bed in a jump of joy. Feeling her head patted by Shizuka she once again began smiling. She hadn't forgotten the fact that it was Takashi whom had saved her life. And one day, she'd repay him in whatever way possible. Maybe give him a pet dog?

The nurse spoke with one hand on the child's had and the other hand on her heart, almost disappearing behind her joy bags. "You said it Alice. It seems we were in luck to walk into you at school… Korumo. "

"D'erm… You… You do me too much credit.. " The boy smiled, blushing from all the attention. "I could not have done it without all of you guys…"

He saw That Rei wanted to give him some more nice words were it not for a sudden but welcome interruption.

"Damn right you couldn't…" Saya spoke firmly as she stood in the door opening. Her hands on her hips her pinkish hair seemed to have just dried. Wearing no glasses she actually very beautiful, even more so than normal. Wearing seemingly not much than than an oversized shirt and most likely some panties it was not weird to See Takashi divert his eyes to neutral areas. Like… her legs, Rei's chest and Zeke.

Now that he paid attention to it… Rei wasn't wearing all too much either. One tight tank top and some boxers underneath it. It was at this point that his blood started to boil and his face began turning more red by the second. Of course All four of the females in the room noticed his attitude changing, fortunately , all eyes were distracted away from him when a guy;s voice came from the distance.

Kohta came running for the room, yelling out his name at the top of his lungs. Korumo looked at the opening, which was made out of darkish red oak and decorated with black lines. As Saya made place for the boy to run in everyone was shocked to hear a sudden POF, followed by an even louder "WHAT THE HELL?!"

Laying right on top of Saya whom lay on the floor with her belly it was obvious that she yelled at him. As he regained his composure and saw his situation could he doing anything but flying backwards, blood raging from his nose and falling with his back against the wall?

No… no in Kohta's case this was the only reaction possible. As he was flying through the air whilst drooling he managed to notify Takashi that he was glad with his return. Either way, after receiving one last slap from Saya his mind drooled off as he sat against the cold white wall.

"Erm…" Takashi stuttered out as he did not know whether he should laugh, or be worries. He decided to do the first one and everyone but Saya joined him. Eventually even the pink haired Genius felt obligated to giggle at least a bit.

Everyone was together now. Everyone except Saeko that is. And the young brave leader knew she was not yet here. But he already knew perfectly well that with Rei right next to him, basically clamping on his arm, he could hardly ask for Miss Busujima. Fortunately, he did not even have to ask himself. Even better was that it was Rei whom spoke the next words:

"Takashi… I'm going to get some drinks for all of us. And…" Looking down at the blanket whilst rubbing her own and biting her lips.

"And?' He asked. "And I'll go and call somebody to relieve Senpai of her duties… I think you and her want to see each other no?"

"Rei? Y-yeah… that would be great." Both of them shared some awkward eye contact. What made it even weirder was that everyone overheard and saw their conversation. Some smiled, others frowned. Nevertheless, Rei walked out of the room and climbed some unknown staircase.

Now that it came to his mind, where the hell was he actually?! He responded to Alice's fifteenth hug before actually asking it.

"Oi… UHm, if I may be so stupid as to break the mood. Where are we? What… happened?'

It was Shizuka whom somehow was the first to answer. "We're on a boat!"

"A boat?" He asked.

"Yep, a vessel." The blonde replied happily, thinking that her answer was clear.

"Yeah I did not really…"

He was interrupted by Saya, whom spoke whilst giving the poor Hirano-kun the evil eye. "Once you passed out we made a run for it. Too many of Them broke through and there was no stopping it… In the end well, we … we had no place to run but here." For a bit she sounded sad, very sad even. It seemed like a nice boat didn't it? " MEh… I suppose we should be happy most of us got on safe."

"Most of us?" He wondered whilst blinking a few times.

"Yes… " As she stopped talking and looked at the boy on the bed she realized that he was getting the wrong picture. "No no no, not like that! Nobody died. Well… you almost did. Furthermore that tall guy g…"

"Jasper-kun?" Alice interrupted before silencing her small mouth with her equally small hands.

"Yes… that guy. He and Singh-san managed to take out the beast that got you apparently. Not without cost though. Anyhow… Ilya, fractured a finger upon dropping the ladder with which we boarded this boat, and Kaname-chan strained her ankle upon dropping the anchor with me. All in all…"

" We got quite lucky." Shizuka added whilst sponging Kohta's head with cold water.

"Y-yes… It seems rest is genuinely taboo. Though I guess… a boat is safe? They can't swim right? And so far animals haven't been attacked so the fish should still be fine. That, and the upcoming low pressure in the atmosphere should make for at least a few comfortable days. "

"I… I see. Good… Right? How long have I been out…?"

"Five days!" Alice screamed in his ear, causing him to grunt and poke the girl in her side.

"Well… more like six and a half day if you count today and the day of the incident as well. Night is almost falling. How come you're in such a good condition anyways? Your wounds are… ugly, to put it lightly." Saya asked with concern.

Takashi stared at his own tummy area. And even though it was covered by a shirt, he felt something was amiss but… but it did not really hurt all too much. Sure, he was weak, hungry, dehydrated and it ached everywhere. But it simply was diminishing with each passing minute.

"I don't know… it hurts and all, but I really just want to eat a bit and… and…"

He heard footsteps coming, as well as a few soft voices. Female voices. Rei and Saeko? He really did want to see his partner… And he wanted to thank Rei as well.

The voices were indeed those of Rei and Saeko. They were now close enough that he could understand them, and since the rest was silent we knew perfectly well that there was something bugging the proud Busujima. But what?

"Come on, it's this door…"

"Y-yes… But I have to do my shift. Simple as that."

He heard a few squeals and after a few more subtle seconds she finally was there. Her feet entered the room first as if she was resisting, followed by her bare legs packed in some very loose black track pants, joined with a violet singlet which fit perfectly around her upper body. Her hair in a tail, katana in its sheet and her face seemed to be vaguely pouting as Rei was obviously pushing her. However, the awkwardness quickly faded as she noticed that she was at the point of no-return.

_Please be all right… Takashi Komuro._

Her blushing head turned from Rei, back to the room and straight to Takashi's blinking and widened eyes. It was obvious that her behavior confused both him and just about everyone in this room. Her aqua irises and abyss black pupils reach his feet first as she was trying to avoid eye contact. But what she saw made her happier than nothing before. He was not in bed, he was sitting, straight up. His toes, however normal they were, were actually on the ground and nervously ticking the wooden floor.

"T-t… Takashi?!" She stuttered out whilst swallowing something which very much resembles salt.

He rested his arms on his knees and made his eyes fly over her body straight to her eyes. She wasn't crying, nor was he. But her eyes were definitely shaking and so were her subtle pink lips. And very much the same could be said about him.

"Ohayou, Saeko-san." He spoke with a little pause before giving her a chuckle. He really did want to stand up but something stopped him. The pain, the little girl on his lap, the fact that there were so many pretty girls here, And last but not least, he was finally observing Saeko again. Even though these six days had passed like it had been no time at all, his heart told him it had been too long. Way too long.

He noticed all too well how Alice got off the bed, followed by her dog. Shizuka lifted Kohta and guided him from the room. And within no Time, Saya had left followed by Rei.

The latter one was someone he wanted here for a little bit more.

"Rei! Wait." He yelled on a kind tone.

"Hmm, what's up?" Rei replied with a quick and somewhat eager voice. It was good that Takashi was staring at Saeko mostly or he would have noticed her blushing and red face, but nevertheless he gave her these next words.

"Thanks… I do remember you saving me. If anything… I'd like to thank you tomorrow… okay? "

The red head smiled and stared at her ex for a bit. Her body was warm and so were her hands. She nodded with pleasure. "Deal!'

As her feet left Takashi's mind as well, it was time to get to the main course.

"Saeko-san… it's been long." Now he tried to stand up but grunted. He was in more pain than he actually thought.

"Takashi!" Within a few quick steps she stood in front of him and laid her hands on his shoulders. Gently pushing him back on the bed she really did not know what to do nor what to say.

"Ugh… damn…. Sorry about that." He looked up at her small nose as she raised it. No tears were visible, but he now realized that she was merely very good at keeping them bad.

"It's no problem…" Saeko spoke. Now placing her slender figure next to him on the bed, with her hands on her knees her entire body seemed tense.

Her leader raised an eyebrow before noticing her raised shoulders.

"Saeko-san… what's u…?"

"Takashi! I'm Sorry!" She suddenly yelled, this time sniffing quite evidently. Throwing away all her so-called self dignity in the process.

"Hmm, for what?"

Within the blink of an eye she looked at him. Their eyes locked once more before she grabbed his hand in an equally quick movement. Taking it in two hands her face turned exactly the same as back in the temple. Yet instead of anger and darkness, she now eyed completely happy and relieved at the same time.

"For not being here… I… I…" She rested her body against his' and her head against Takashi's head.

"What do you mean?" If he had to believe that Kaori girl, she had watched him one night as well right? He failed to see the problem.

"I just could not bear to see you like this. And… I know I'm not acting like me right now but I want you to hear me out once more, okay? Let's just…. " She was surprised by a finger on her lips as she began ranting.

"Shhh, Saeko-san. You have done nothing wrong."

A flame began to spark again as their front heads touched once more.

"Takashi-kun… "

"Saeko-san… " Going in against the pain he moved one arm around her waist and made sure they were both sitting equally comfortable. "Remember that promise I made? Of having our time together?"

"Y-yeah… I can't really blame you for not keeping your word.." She semi-joked, semi-meant.

"Well… Will you let me make up for it? Saeko-san. How about…We'll take this entire night for ourselves?" He spoke with a heavy voice as he felt and smelled her warm breath against his nose and mouth.

"That would be great…" Her cold and pale hand touched his cheek and pulled it just a bit closer. "I'll get you some dinner, get changed and. And …"

No more words needed to be spoken. As if there was no tomorrow he rushed his head forwards and finally, after all those days, they felt, tasted, smelled and knew each other once more.

This was no kiss for pleasure, nor for anything related to it. This was a kiss of love, and nothing on earth could surpass this kind of love.

Moving their lips, tongues, noses and hands against each other they were both burning with passion, love and fire. Breathing heavily this touching of lips was so out of character for the both of them that chances were high that it would change their very personality.

Whatever would be discussed and done this night, would be done or said with the best of intentions for his or her love.

This kiss, it made them feel alive. Her tongue against his' made him remember. His rough hand on her right hip made her forget. This tongue would not only rekindle a fading flame.

It would revive de dead.

_A BIT faster this time. But still way too slow. However, progress! Haha..ha. 3 Love you all._

_A bit of enlightenment! I did not forget about the second person in the room. He or she will play a role, if he or she is actually there that is._

_Next chapter will be lovey doveyr as FUUUUUUUUCK, hehe…no pun intended. Probably only I will get it anyways._

_Thanks for support and tips of making me write again. Much appreciated._

_It really helped,plus I found my own way. I'm going to alter between writing and drawing. I can now draw basic manga without oo many problems, but I still cannot get the HotD style right._

_And that stinks, because I really want to draw the OC's out to give you guys and girls a better image of them in your pretty heads. And I also want to draw the main cast in their currently outfits and state. _

_So… look forward to that as well I guess. Not that its anything close to art, but it's just a little easter egg haha._

_UHm… oh yeah, I also asked this question to one of my dear reviewers. _

_How are the OC's so far? I like them myself but I don't write this solely for myself. More or less of them? Or is the balance correct in this way?_

_Now I'm going to brush my hair. A certain somebody can't stop touching it._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Yamucha-san_


	12. Sleep like the dead

_Olla yolla! Next chapter, coming up._

_I do not own highschool of the dead. All rights belong to its original author and animators._

_( Hooray for the confirmed continuation of the manga! )_

**Chapter 12:**

"Here, this should be plenty."

"Thanks, it really looks good." The hungry leader spoke on a grumpy but grateful tone. He reached for the steamy bowl which released the smell of heaven currently. At least in the nostrils of Takashi it did.

"You're welcome, you need it." The samurai in his presence spoke before once more sitting next to her partner. She herself had a small cup of tea in her hands as well and sipped it softly as she listened to whatever Takashi was going to say. If that was going to be anything, because for now all he really did slurping the soup from the boil, almost forgetting to chew on the vegetables in the process. It was a funny sight, but you can't really blame the guy for it. To finally taste a warm, well-prepared meal after days of action, drama and ordeals.

"Hmm, this is delicious… Did you make it?" He asked before using his chopsticks to fish out yet another piece of relatively fresh salmon. Not remembering that his love interest wasn't too keen on these kind of table manners he blatantly kept eating all the way until his the first bowl was empty.

Fortunately, instead of being grumpy, the girl next to him chuckled.

"Yes, but not alone. I had some help of Kaname-chan."

"Kaname?" Takashi asked, as he tried to remember whom was who.

"Yes, the small high school junior. She's surprisingly adapt within the kitchen walls." Saeko spoke, admitting to herself that they now had a better cook in their company.

"Hmm I see.. It's still rather blurry."

"What is?" She asked whilst playing with the red curtain which hung just next to the bed.

"Everything, It's not as if I forgot what has happened before." He stopped with talking for a bit to make eye contact. And to his surprise she had done that long since. "All of it is simply, well, blurry. Like Kaname. I remember those new people… but besides Sergio, I can't recall any of their names."

Not entirely sure what she should say she only smiled and replied with a short sentence. "You'll remember."

"Yeah I hope. I guess I'm still just a bit battered up." She chuckled to himself as he tried to sit straight. It really hurt, especially around his stomach area and his throat. All in all, it was a surprise that he could talk without effort. He put down his bowl on the service plate in between him and Saeko, moved his hand through his hair and swallowed the last few bits left in his mouth.

"Hmm, that sure hit the spot." With his aching arms he pushed himself up and rest his back against the cold steel wall.

There was a peaceful atmosphere in the air around them. Salty sea water reached their juvenile nostrils, greatly implying freedom. But still, the two of them being together was being rather awkward. Two hours had already passed after their passionate kiss. Saeko had prepared some dinner for Takashi, helped him washing his messy hair and finally sat down with him on the soft yet cranky bunk bed.

Quite a bit of lines were spoken but not a single long conversation had started. Sunlight had long since left them alone, forcing them to light up one of the many oil lamps found in the living room of the boat. Takashi really wanted to see where they were now, but what he wanted even more, was talking with Saeko. There still was that one idiotic question about her hobbies that bugged him.

"So… saeko-san. I have to say, that.." His own coughing interrupted his line. And just as he wanted to finish it up the girl it was meant for outraced his noise.

"Did you have enough to eat, Takashi-kun?"

A bit flabbergasted by her question he replied with a vague yes. "Y-yeah… Of course I could have more, but it's fine for now."

"Good. You need to rest more." She added hastily.

"Why? I feel just fine. Pain won't go away if I sleep." He nagged back with a joking voice.

"No…"

"What?"

"Never mind. UHm…"

"Is something the matter? Saeko-san?" He spoke, blinking his eyes a few time in confusion.

Squeezing the blankets, and closing her eyes for a short period of time the girl finally sighed out loud. "Yes… actually there is. But…"

"What is it?" He asked quickly, interrupting her on purpose this time to exact his little revenge. Seeing her faintly pink lips give away a tender smile after an annoyed stare they shared a soft chuckle. It were these little things that made it all worthwhile.

"I don't want to ruin your mood, because I want to be completely honest with you tonight…" This time her hands went for the tray and gently laid it on the floor next to the bed. Sitting closer to Takashi this time her pale hand was placed on his leg.

"Saeko-san?" He muttered out, wondering what she was on about.

"Don't worry, it's nothing… bad, for us. I hope."

"What do you mean?" He spoke with opened eyes.

Faintly chuckling the samurai squeezed his legs ever so gently. "It means that I'm not breaking up with you right now."

"D'eh…?!" Quite confused he grinned along with her, not quite getting the joke. All was well however, he still liked the girl. "Then what do you want to say?"

"I think you can guess…" Saeko spoke whilst her teeth made their way to her lower lip.

Raising his eyebrows Takashi didn't really know what to do now. He had always been bad in remembering stuff… except his promise to Rei that is. And as soon as he thought about that pinky swear he coughed wildly and smiled at his current girlfriend.

"D'erm… blurry memory?! Remember? What's nagging you?"

The tough female sighed with an obvious amount of annoyance, yet nevertheless continued. "Fine… play it like this. I'm going to rather straightforward, don't get mad okay?" She asked, knowing that he wouldn't come up with a clear reply anyway.

"I can't promise that…" He spoke truthfully. He had always found that to be one of the most stupid questions.

"I know… So,.." Taking one last gasp of air she swallowed and begun. "I have thought about the last few days and I realized something."

"Go on." He added, just to show some interest.

"I'm…" The hand which had been on his leg a second ago, now squeezed her own leg. "I'm losing it Takashi… Your mother, Miyamoto's father, the harbor, raiders, my quarrels with Rei and even back at the temple…" She stopped for a moment to inhale, for her words were getting louder by the second. "And now… , back when you were unconscious… I risked us all once more by rushing off. " She raised her face and stared at the top of the bunk bed. Mixing the blue in her eyes with red, he could tell she was indeed becoming a different person. He noticed the fact that he could see her eyes getting damp more often with each passing day. At first he thought she was simply becoming more social, could it be that it was the complete opposite?

A bit dazzled by her soft outburst he scratched his ear and was thinking of what to say, fortunately for him she carried on by herself.

"Anyway… we can keep repeating all that, but I can also just get to the point. Takashi I…" Once more distracting herself she toyed with her long strands of her that fell over her shoulders.

"Hmm, you what?" He replied on a hastened yet kind tone.

"I want you to retract your promise…"

"You what?" He thought he hadn't heard that correctly. Still with his thoughts at her reasons for losing herself he could not, or didn't want to, hear what she just said.

Feeling rather good about herself since she stayed perfectly calm Saeko was a tad surprised to see a big brown on Takashi's face.

"You heard me. For what's it worth, even though it is way too late, I don't want you to take responsibility for my actions anymore."Adjusting her position she now sat straight up once more. Staring at her boyfriend with utmost attention she kept waiting for him to properly reply, but when that didn't happen and his hand went for his wound instead she wanted to part her lips to speak once more.

"Takashi I mean th…."

"DO, …" He suddenly grunted out with a large amount of disgust for her little speech. "…You even have the slightest clue as to what the hell you are saying?! Saeko-san?!" Within the blink of an eye his face had turned from simply frowning to utterly furious. "After all we've been through now… after all things I have forgiven you for, and after all the times you have saved me in return. You're currently asking em to drop all that?!"

His hands clenched into a fist and he flew them straight into the bad, hiding the sheer force hidden behind that hit. Weren't it for his weakened body he'd want nothing more than stand up and properly burst out for a bit. "Now?! Do you?!"

For the girl it was a completely different story. She was overwhelmed by his response. All the days he had been knocked out she had thought about ways to make it easier for him. To allow for things to change in a positive way. If he would stop worrying about her all the time, he should have ample time to forge other bonds right? That much was obvious, at least to her it was.

"Takashi-kun?!" She muttered out, not knowing what to say. She had seen his legs trying to stand up, so her hands wanted to support him. But instead of that, she felt her wrists being grabbedwith a force she had only felt once before.

And like always, that one time was back at the temple. The way he had grabbed her breast back than was just as hard as now. She felt her veins being squeezed shut and her hand turned numb rather quickly.

"Saeko-san! I love you, and even though you think I don't anymore after all the thing you have done, I still do. I'd go through hell and back and lot more for you but…" This time it was he whom closed his eyes before speaking again. Trying to squeeze her wrist even harder but failing to do so he lift his nose before carrying on. "But don't ask me that… it's all I have left Saeko… senpai ." His voice become softer and he let go of her arms before lowering his head." It's all I have left…."

An awkward silence covered the room now as the sound of some talking people reached their ears. If they could hear them, vice versa it would be the same. Yet this wasn't the time to be ashamed, this was a time where he felt sad, abandoned even. Time after time he had been able to forgive her due to his promise. He had been able to continue loving her because he had promised so. But not she asked him to just throw away that vow?! That wasn't anything he was planning to do and it pissed him off.

"No." He now looked at her and was slight surprised to see her confused face. It calmed him down, since it confirmed that she had meant no harm. "I will never do that."

He expected to see a smile, or at least a soft curve in her lips. Instead he himself got a frown back.

"That's a shame…" She twitched her face to get her pony out of her eyes. "It would be for the best…"

"What are you on about?!" He exclaimed.

"I gave this a lot of thought… but you throw it away as if my words mean nothing, komuro-kun." This time her choice of his name had been intentional. She might be his girlfriend, but she was also hit elder. And upon seeing his frown she sighed. "But I'm thankful… I guess." Moving her fingers a bit to get rid of the pain in her wrist she finally cracked a faint smile. "I'm sorry, this isn't the time nor the place to talk about this."

"Nor will it ever be…" He spoke in order to have the last word, fortunately Saeko wasn't Rei so she let it slip and thus an awkward silence followed. Whether that was for the best or not was to be seen, but for now it relieved them of an upcoming argument.

It was a loud yell coming from outside the room which caught their attention. Since it was followed by laughter they didn't haste themselves down to the source, yet instead found themselves chuckling along, not even knowing who or why there was being laughed.

"You want to go out? Takashi-kun?" The indigo haired girl abruptly asked with a monotone voice.

"Hmm?" He moved his head to his right to look at her and grinned. "No… it's been a bad start, but this was to be our time together wasn't it?"

"Yes, though it would be logical for you to want to see everyone." Was her reply.

"Frankly though… that's not true. Everyone I really wanted to see has already been here. The new people… I just don't know them properly. I've never been that social anyways haha…ha." Mocking himself was a trademark he was but all too eager to show to just about everyone.

"Two of them saved your life back then… or so I understood. It would only be respectful to thank them." She spoke. Truth to be told, the girl had no intention of letting him go. But she didn't want to come across as egocentric. She realized all too well that Takashi was needed for balance within the group.

"Aye… and I will thank them, but just not right now. Tomorrow morning, when we wake up, we'll pay them a visit. Okay?' He leant back a bit, stretching his arms.

"O-okay…" The female shyly replied with a fair amount of hidden happiness.

"Just who were you referring to actually?" Takashi asked out of curiosity.

"Singh-kun, the Indian boy. And ter Horst-san, the tall guy. Though he got quite a beating during the process."

"Is he okay?" He quickly asked, showing a tad of genuine worry.

"yeah, you got the worst of it. By far… "

"Ugh… can't say I'm grateful for it, but at least that's good news.

"Yes. Also thank Ilya, the witty yet grmpy guy, and Anton-san, for saving the entire group. Alongside me and…" She felt like slapping herself in the face for making such an incredibly self boosting remark, yet he didn';t seem to mind it. "… and kosake –san…" That last name made her twitch her eyes. What was it about her that made her uncomfortable?

"I see… Well let's just hope we finally met some decent folks… though with our string of misfortune, I wouldn't want to bet on it."

"They're a nice bunch, but they lack something I can't place my finger off. Not all of them, but something just feels wrong." The samurai spoke on a soft tone, as if she wanted nobody to hear what she had just said, which was true in some sort of way.

"We'll see… At least they are of our age. Which helps… I think. Sort of."

"Yes. Who knows."

He really tried to think positive about the reinforcements. But by now he had seen enough to be mistrustful about simply accepting new people.

Not realizing Saeko had been refilling his cup of soup he was rather surprised to see another bowl of heaven in front of him. Frankly though… he didn't feel like it. But rejecting food wasn't part of his agenda currently.

It was a chilly, yet sort of romantic atmosphere in this cabin. The lamp offered enough light to see, but not enough to see clearly. A wave of orange light filled up the room and their shadows were ever so enlarged by it.

"Saeko-san… "

"Yes?" The girl replied within a second.

"UHm… Just to get it out of the way. I didn't mean to yell, but I never want to hear that again, okay?"

The girl sighed annoyed, yet figured she would nod for now. "Fine…"

He knew that what she said was true. Out of all people in their group, she definitely came closest to breaking. But there was no denying that life was being hard on all of them.

"Good… so, can I ask you a question now?" He saw and heard her chuckle before he could even ask it.

"My hobbies right?" When she saw the boy blush and grunt her soft chuckling became slightly louder. Biting her lips for a bit she leaned towards him and whispered the next words: "And what if I don't feel like telling you?"

"Hmm?" He realized she was teasing him, but felt a shiver go through his body by her tone. What was she up to?!

It wasn't made better for him when he let the bowl of hot soup fell out of his hands and over his very legs. Grunting and yelling the tried to decrease the pain but instead his wounds only made it worse. It must have taken him almost a full minute too calm down and even longer for him to notice that his every movement was closely observed by his girl, whom was quite shocked, flabbergasted and amused by his enthusiastic fights against nigh boiling water. It was when his brown eyes crossed her blue ones that she finally laughed. Not very loud, nor too soft, it was the standard Saeko laugh which warmed up everyone's heart. Maybe it was because he loved her, or maybe it was just because she rarely laughed out loud, so every time you heard it, it gained a special spot in your heart.

The beautiful thing was that she kept on giggling for not just a few seconds, no, her giggles came from her mouth even after Takashi had asked her, albeit mockingly, to stop.

"Jees… it burns like crazy… This was the last thing I needed." He spread his legs in a vague hope that his trousers would dry up within an instance. Of course that wasn't the case so he just sad there with a humungous soup stain on his trousers.

As she kept a big smug on her face she simply stared at both his face and then back at the stain. She couldn't help but feeling even more laughter coming up. She didn't even find it that funny, it came automatically and wouldn't go away. She covered her lips with her hands before finally coughing and immediately apologizing.

"Erherm.. sorry. That was immature."

"Haha, it's all right. I'd have done the same… " The only problem was that Saeko would probably never be clumsy enough to do things like this.

"Should I get you some new pants and underwear? She spoke as pointed at the place where the stain was.

Immediately blushing and rolling his eyes he tried to act nonchalant yet finally had to give in. He was in no state to walk through a ship he was unfamiliar with, and he didn't exactly feel much for bumping into people with a stain which famously resembled pee.

"Uhm… Yes please… if that ain't too much of a chore…"

"Definitely not, it won't be long. " She stood up and coughed once more in order to regain her composure.

He watched her leave the room and couldn't help but to crack a smile whilst seeing her off. For once he wasn't lustfully observing her sensual body, but he was observing her shoulder. Which appeared to be extremely wobbly, as she was most likely still holding back her laughter.

"Why does she try so hard?"

He didn't think too much about it before he noticed his sticky pants. He tried to rub some of the liquid out of the fibers but quickly stopped that as his hands got equally sticky.

Instead of waiting for her to be back he figured to at least undo his trousers already. Which, sadly , proved to be a whole lot more difficult than he thought. Undoing his buttons was easy enough, but as soon as he tried to pull them down an intense pain shot once more through his torso.

"Urgh, .. dammit!" It annoyed him, and that was putting it lightly. Not being able to do even a simple thing like this was plainly embarrassing. And when it struck his mind that he'd have to ask saeko for help was even worse, if not slightly exciting in a strange way. Well… actually it wasn't that strange. Now he'd only have to hope she was willing to put aside her pride for a bit. And that he would be able to hide his shame and excitement and whatnot.

Sitting alone in the room didn't comfort him. Especially when he still didn't feel entirely alone. Still not sure if there was somebody in the bed on the far end of the room he felt actually a bit spooked. But decided to ignore the matter for now. Right now, the only thing which was important was to eat what little was left in the bowl and the act indifferent about the entire situation. Then talk and hopefully laugh a bit more with Saeko. And maybe even share a bed for the night… who knew. At the sheer thought of the last thing his mind went astray, but not for long. He heard the sound of soft footsteps quickly come towards his room. And judging by the sound of them it was whom he expected that it was.

As the door was opened and the indigo haired beauty showed her face they greeted one another with a smile.

"I brought two, just in case." Saeko teased on a calm tone before laying one of them right on top of the person in the other bed. To the surprise of Takashi of course, whom decided to not pay too much attention to it. It would be a silly question anyways. "You want me to get you some more dinner? It's getting late, so it's your last opportunity, Takashi-kun." Handing over one pair to the boy the girl noticed all too well something was wrong, but she decided that if it really was important he'd spit it out himself.

"Uhm, no thank you. My appetite is rather ruined…" As Takashi reached out to accept the black trousers he noticed the warm fiber. Did they have a heating system? As he felt the hot soup caressing his legs though his trousers he started wiggling a bit before standing up. Fortunately for him he could do that by now.

"You want me to leave?" The female samurai asked, as she misinterpreted his actions.

Replying in somewhat a hesitant tone Takashi began fiddling with the buttons on his pants. "Hmm? No, It's fine. It's just that…"

"Hmm? Is something the matter?" She asked anyways after seeing her boy groaning at the simplest movement.

"N-no, .,.. Yes,I mean no. … Maybe." His stature got less with every passing second. It was a good thing they were safe for he could feel his entire torso ache, and not just a little. In fact, he just wanted to sit down and… And so he did.

A pale pair of hands grabbed his shoulders and guided him down on the bed again. Paying more attention to his pain than to the person in front of him He was completely caught off guards when he saw her, his lover, sitting on her knees just in front of him.

"Don't be so stubborn Takashi-kun. I'm here for you if you need help. Also for the…little things. I'm a woman after all." The last few words were spoken with a mischievous giggle and he didn't know whether she was laughing at him and his situation, or actually thinking of what he was thinking of. The latter he doubted but still… He was a teenager!

"S-s-saeko-san?! What are you?!"He muttered a little too loud for she quickly shushed him.

"Retain your calm… I'm just helping you out." As seductively as she had sounded before, so serious she sounded right now. Even before either she or Takashi could make another movement or spout out some more useless words. He hands were well on their way with pulling down his pants, which she did quite fluently. Immediately going for the new set of jeans her eyes glared up at her boyfriend for a few seconds, chuckling in her mind.

For Takashi however, it was a completely different atmosphere. Not really daring to stare at the girl in front of him, since he was afraid to see anything which would be to his liking. And frankly enough, that'd be her entire body. The only words that raged though his brain were the words: "_ Damn you Takashi… don't get a stiffy… don't get a stiffy right now…" _

It was also at this point that things went on autopilot, as the result was rather cliché. It was as soon as she had almost pulled his new trousers on that, most likely by accident, her hand faintly brushed his crotch. And boy did he feel busted, he felt as if his mind was equally touchable as fresh buns out of the oven. The voice that came from underneath him didn't do him much better.

Very soft, maybe even with a soft hissing undertone she asked: "Is something wrong, Takashi-kun?"

_No… nothing is wrong, do you really need to ask that?! _ One part of his brain said, whilst the other fled into panic for the next thing he knew was _her hand _on his groin. "_If only she doesn't feel my …" _Takashi thought in panic before realizing that his groin was what started this to begin with. It was the hand of God which gave him the soft squeezes that made him dizzy. Never before had his member been in somebody else's hand to be softly toyed with, only Rei had come close, but back then they felt that they were too young. _"No do not think about Rei now!" _Takashi yelled at himself in his mind. It was weird, Saeko and 2he had had sex before, yet something like this felt completely different. This was how it would always be from now on… no it wasn't. That would mean he'd feel comfortable and was used to it. Frankly, he wasn't at all. It wasn't any day a guy ends up in a situation like this with the girl of his dreams.

He noticed her gazing quickly to the side, most likely to the door before pulling down his trousers just far enough for her to be able to start what she had planned. Not long after her hand slid down his boxers, which were still faintly wet from the spoiled soup. It was a good hand, a warm hand, which was wrapped around his hardening self. Does it really need to be said that Takashi was almost choking because of the feeling of luck which was growing in his head.

"Takashi-kun…" She spoke out of her faintly glittering lips. "You're getting quite hard…"

"UHm… Y-yeah?!" He bit his lips. Did she really have to talk like this? That really didn't make him less so. But she wasn't looking at him, it appeared as if she was talking to herself instead of him. Nevertheless, it was here that her hand began moving a little bit faster without tightening her grip around it. Bigger luck was unimaginable for Takashi currently. The boy could think about nothing else as he heard the faint sounds coming from down below. Both his, and her breathing increased their paces. The fortunate leader looked down only once to see a small frown in between her thin eye brows. When her eyes noticed him staring she slowed down.

"_She knows what she's doing?!" _He asked to himself as she began to only use her thumb and moved it across the top of his straight member. His vision faded to a blurry vision of snowfall at the evening. A few seconds later it was all over. Takashi released his propped up excitement both over her pale hand and over his new trousers. He made no real sound, for he realized all too well that she was weary of other's hearing this. His body tensed once last time, but after that the cramps faded away and she released him. With a serene smile she cleaned her hand with his dirty pants, and after that dipped his pants dry as well.

"S-saeko-san…" Without saying a word she stood up and sat down next to Takashi in a slow and kind way.

"Did I treat you well enough like this, Takashi-kun?" She asked him, followed by a small chuckle. Still a tad flabbergasted he was breathing heavily before he knew the following. Which was weird, since it had to be confirmed in a way like this. There was nothing he wouldn't do for her.

"Y-yes… but why… why so suddenly?" He regained his breath completely before looking at her. As he saw her raised eyebrow he quickly re-spoke his words. "I mean…. Not that I didn't like it hahah….ha." "_Gosh Takashi what are you going?!" _He quickly spoke to himself. To his release, she noticed his thoughts and grinned.

"Because I love you Takashi-kun… that's why. And I wanted to… confirm that." The words were still weird in his eyes. Wonderful and enlightening. But weird. In the back of his head he still expected Rei to say this one day, and himself to take her in her arms. BUT! This was definitely not the time to ponder about that.

"Saeko-san… Thank you. I love you too…." He spoke on a low, but serious tone.

"Well then… uhm.." Obviously blushing it was she who coughed away the awkwardness this time. "Let's go to sleep shall we… there is a lot to do tomorrow."

Wrapping his right arm around the girl he laughed out loud.

"Yeah, sure.. but this whole changing pants thing was rather useless then don't you say?"

"Useless right?" She spoke on a sensual tone as she bit her own lips.

No reply was given by him, just a long and unbroken stare which was broken by some falling pans and cups outside the room, followed by some cursing from whom appeared to Saya and a male voice Takashi didn't recognize. For Saeko it was clear that it had been Anton, though her mind was with her boyfriend right now.

"Yeah, let's go to sleep." Takashi spoke before struggling to get back in bed, followed by Saeko whom laid in front of him with her back turned towards his stomach.

Her hand went for the oil lamp before saying a few last words.

"Takashi-kun…?"

"Hmm, what's up?" He spoke upon opening his heavy and satisfied eyes.

"Drawing and…"

"Drawing and? Huh?"

"And…painting miniatures…" The lasts word were spoken really quickly, but he had heard them nevertheless. But instead of replying with words he simply wrapped his arm around her and pulled her smaller body against his own. They both closed their eyes, and Busujima spoke the last words of their night.

"Those were my hobbies…"

It was a quiet night, and without worries. Nothing disrupted their sleep until the sun would awake them in a barrage of light rays. Until then, they 'd sleep like the dead.

_ALL RIGHT. This was a long wait. I took a break, that's why. I hope it doesn't bother you folks too much. I've got an exam week coming up, and after that I am planning on finishing this thing on a constant pace again._

_Are there things I have to say… yeah, the whole fap=fap scene… why? Because I think saeko would do those things for Takashi. Something like that._

_UHm… other things. Ah yeah, next chapters will be character drama, then there will be zombie drama again. So, wait for that. _

_And last but not least, I made a quick drawing of the Oc's. Nothing all too shabby, but it should work with shaping an image. art/Untitled-360792266 This is the link for those whom are interested. _

_Yours sincerely, Yamucha-san._


End file.
